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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120272">Too Deep to Turn Back</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheynet/pseuds/Wheynet'>Wheynet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gundam Wing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>08th MS Team character, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Preventers (Gundam Wing), Recreational Drug Use</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:06:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>60,796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheynet/pseuds/Wheynet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>IN A WORLD WHERE-<br/>I'm kidding, but here's a horrible summary:</p><p>After peace has settled into the tenuous relations between the colonies and Earth, the five Gundam pilots had gone their separate ways to explore the new lives they could own for themselves. Soon though, the majority sign up with the Preventers, and Wufei is handed a tough assignment to suss out and extinguish a new fire threatening to blow the peace into the cosmos, if anyone could figure out who indeed would want to start up a fight again. But while he gains a teammate to help him investigate the fire, he also must navigate carefully the ragged past of his friend and his own confliction with what came out of it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chang Wufei/Duo Maxwell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>PLEASE READ BEFORE THE STORY!<br/>I'm looking for true constructive criticism here. I know it's a pain in the ass, and if it's not your thing then continue onward, but even spelling errors I'm interested in. I'm trying to work on story-telling, voice and style, and I'll even take your flames if that's what you really wanna dish out for out-of-character personalities or inaccuracies of military know-how or languages, whatever. Please. It would make me very happy and be a learning experience for everyone. Is it moving too fast? Is it confusing to know who's talking? Literally anything. If you'd rather send feedback privately, my email is wheynetc@gmail.com.<br/>Please and thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Against the hushed clacks of keyboards, mouse clicking, and hurriedly cut-off rings of a phone, Duo sidled over the office floor. Down the aisle he bumped and jigged silently over to the water cooler and only in complete silence could the bass have been heard through his earbuds. A coworker coming down the aisle raised her eyebrows at him, but she said nothing as she passed him with files in her arms held tightly like his energy would flick them around the office. But he didn’t see her go by anyway: he took a moment to close his eyes and raise his arms high and bop his head left and right to the unheard beat.</p><p class="p1">Just turning to walk away from the water cooler, Wufei noticed Duo approaching and stopped mid-sip at the sight of his dancing. He only stood and watched even as Duo pulled up a small paper cup from the dispenser and drew himself some of the water from the jug- the bottom half of him still wiggling in time. Flipping his long braid back from his shoulder Duo stood straight again and sipped his water, but the dancing didn’t cease, it just became a self-contained back-and-forth gyrating of hips.</p><p class="p1">From the door nearest the cooler came Une, surprised to see Wufei right at her door. “Chang, you’re exactly who I need to-“ she stopped and stared at Duo’s dancing, unamused. “What is he doing?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei downed his drink and moved in to refill, and Duo backed away a step to give him room, though he gave no other indication that he was the subject of conversation. “He’s dancing?” He stepped away again with the water.</p><p class="p1">Une’s nose wrinkled uncertainly, borderline disgusted, and she glanced over the cubicles of the office floor, seeing that a few of the employees were turned in their chairs watching Duo with just as much confusion. Some smiled at his lack of self-awareness, or maybe it was his confidence. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Meet me in conference room A-3 in fifteen minutes. I have a new assignment for you.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, ma’am,” Wufei confirmed as Une walked away from the offices.</p><p class="p1">Once she was out of earshot, Duo pulled out an earbud. “She say anything?” he asked with a hushed chuckle.</p><p class="p1">“No.”</p><p class="p1">“Dammit. Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei sipped his water, and the smell of the wet waxy plastic cup made him want to gag. He needed to get one of those metal cups. He wanted to call them a thermos, but he didn’t know what to call them except for their brand names. Like Chapstick. It’s lip balm, but nobody calls it that.</p><p class="p1">“You know ‘cus me and Quatre are gonna go to Dirty and I was just—”</p><p class="p1">Wufei watched Duo gab on and on, just as energetic as he was during the war, but he seemed a little wilder lately. The off- tan button-up of the Preventers uniform was wrinkled, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as usual, a few buttons at the top undone and tie loosened so the knot hung closer to his chest. The would-be pressed pants were also wrinkled, but seemingly clean, and cinched with a belt tightly just above his hips. Wufei was aware suddenly that Duo had stopped talking and was waiting for his response, tapping his shoe on the carpet, but Wufei was concentrating on the bloodshot eyes, the oddly and hugely dilated blue eyes. His nose was red. Maybe he had a cold.</p><p class="p1">“‘Dirty’. What is that?”</p><p class="p1">Duo stilled his unconscious heel tapping. “It’s a club.”</p><p class="p1">“A nightclub?”</p><p class="p1">Duo grinned, happy that his coworker was getting it. “Yeah!”</p><p class="p1">“And Quatre is going to this nightclub with you.”</p><p class="p1">“Buddy,” Duo leaned towards Wufei conspiratorially, a happy smirk stretching his lips, “Quatre goes to clubs with me all the time.” And he sniffed hard suddenly, still grinning, and rubbed the bottom of his nose.</p><p class="p1">“Are you sick?”</p><p class="p1">“Sick in the head!” He laughed. “‘Insane in the membrane’- you know that song?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei squinted at him and then sighed. He gulped down his water, tossed it into the small bin beside the water cooler, passing him by to the other end of the hall. He had to get to the meeting with Une.</p><p class="p1">“I will go.”</p><p class="p1">Duo whispered a harsh yes and thrust a fist in the air for himself.</p><p class="p1">“Send me a text of the details.”</p><p class="p1">“You won’t regret it, buddy!” Duo called out to him.</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">In the cafeteria, Duo went up to the food line, pulling a tray off the top of the pile and sliding it onto the metal rack line. He smiled at the ladies behind the counter who walked back and forth, preparing more food for the line that was sure to back up, and helped himself to the assortment. Many ladles and scoops he touched and then hesitated, setting it down and moving on to the next one. By the end he had a bread roll (and required margarine—<b>required</b>), an apple, and a moderate pile of red Jell-O. He skipped the choice of a drink and faced the seating of the cafeteria. He got on his toes to see above the heads in the distance until he saw where he wanted to be and he hurried over with a smile. At a table in the center sat Quatre with his own tray, chatting at Trowa across from him. Duo set his near empty tray down next to Trowa to be across from his blond friend.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, babe!”</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Duo,” Quatre greeted happily.</p><p class="p1">To Trowa, Duo bumped their shoulders with familiarity- “Hey you.” And drew his attention right back to Quatre, if his attention had ever left him. “Hey, Wufei’s gonna come with us tonight!” He unwrapped the small cube of margarine and started slathering it onto his roll with hasty swipes of the knife. “Ain’t that somethin’?”</p><p class="p1">“Wufei’s coming with us to the club? That’s odd.”</p><p class="p1">“Dat awight?” Duo asked through a mouthful of roll.</p><p class="p1">“Well of course it is! I just didn’t expect it.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa tipped his finger at the apple on Duo’s tray. “Want that?”</p><p class="p1">Duo shook his head and chewed, grabbing the apple and handing it to his friend. He swallowed. “Red Delicious are nasty, all gritty and shit. I’d eat it if I was starving on the street but since I’m not, get that shit away from me. I don’t even know why I picked it up.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa said nothing in return, only taking a bite of the deeply red fruit and chewing.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah, crazy, right? I didn’t expect him to say yes either. Maybe the guy’s lonely, gonna pick up some bitches at the party or somethin’.”</p><p class="p1">“Wufei’s gay,” Trowa stated, taking another bite.</p><p class="p1">“Really? I could believe that—he’s too hot to be straight. But bitches don’t have to be female.”</p><p class="p1">“They tend to be.”</p><p class="p1">Quatre’s mouth dropped and he gasped. “Trowa! Don’t say that!”</p><p class="p1">Trowa smiled and Duo laughed. “Dogs, Q, he meant dogs!”</p><p class="p1">“No he didn’t. You two are horrible together.”</p><p class="p1">Duo bumped his shoulder into Trowa’s arm again. “Oh I don’t think so. In fact we should start dating!”</p><p class="p1">“Who gets to be the bitch?” Trowa looked at Duo with playful questioning.</p><p class="p1">“Me obviously; I’ve seen what you’re packin’.”</p><p class="p1">Quatre grumbled at their back and forth and shook his head while Duo snickered at him. The roll was gone in only a few bites and then he took a spoonful of his Jell-O, offering it to Quatre. “Want some gelatinous horse feet?”</p><p class="p1">“No.” Quatre grimaced and scrutinized the near empty tray. “Is that all you’re having? You need to eat more.”</p><p class="p1">“Nah, I’m not that hungry.” He squished the red jello between his tongue and the roof of his mouth before swallowing. He knew Quatre was watching him, and he made steady eye contact with him while putting another spoonful in his mouth. Let him say something, like it would matter. Duo pointedly sniffed hard and rubbed the underside of his nose.</p><p class="p1">Quatre was silent with concern but looked back and forth between Duo’s eyes. He took a breath to say something, and then sighed and backed down from it. “You need to eat more,” he said quietly, almost to himself.</p><p class="p1">Duo scarfed down his flavored gelatin and dropped the spoon into the tray with a clatter. It was nearly unheard through the noise of talk and tray shuffling in the cafeteria. “Well, now I’m gonna work out!” He bumped shoulders with Trowa once more, “You still comin’?”</p><p class="p1">Trowa nodded.</p><p class="p1">Duo stood and grabbed his tray.</p><p class="p1">Quatre watched them rise from the table. “Work out? You just ate.”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah but I’m trying to tire myself out for a nap when I get home so I’ll be ready for the club. And then it’ll be up to someone else to knock me out <b>after</b> the club if you know what I mean.” Duo moved to take his tray to the trashcan where he’d stack it on top, and Trowa followed behind him.</p><p class="p1">Quatre grabbed Duo’s arm gently to stop him and leaned close. “Duo, you shouldn’t be doing that here,” he said quietly. “Please be careful.”</p><p class="p1">Duo waved away his concerns with a smile and continued on. “Don’t worry, babe- It’s all good!”</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Do you know how to flirt, Tro?”</p><p class="p1">Trowa sat on the wooden bench in the locker room and bent over to tie the laces of his tennis shoes. “I tend not to.”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah that answered my question,” Duo quipped. He took his tie and dress shirt off, folding them haphazardly and dropping them in his locker. He pulled a loose tank over his head. He was already in his shoes and gym shorts, ready and waiting for Trowa to finish tying his laces.</p><p class="p1">“I suppose I know how, but I don’t use that knowledge. I don’t have to.” Trowa stood and they left the echoing tiled locker room together and out to the exercise field.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah, I guess when you play the sweet silent type the girls and guys just fall over themselves for you.” Out in the sunshine, Duo hopped into the grass of the field happily to reach the starting position of the track further down.</p><p class="p1">“If you’re looking for advice, it will most likely be a hinderance- our styles of interaction are different.”</p><p class="p1">On bright green grass the two gave each other a small distance and began to stretch their arms and legs. Duo’s head swiveled around during his static stretching, looking up at the bleachers nearby.</p><p class="p1">He chuckled. “Hey look,” and he waved high at the couple on the metal seats, “Wufei’s here.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa looked up to see that Wufei was indeed sitting on the bleachers, high up near the top with Heero sitting a row below him. Wufei waved back at Duo but with less enthusiasm.</p><p class="p1">“And Heero,” Trowa noted.</p><p class="p1">Duo turned back to his stretching and dismissed the name with a simple and uninterested “Mm-hm.”</p><p class="p1">“Is he why you’re asking? You talk about him often lately.” The both of them sat on the turf and stretched to touch their toes. Trowa reached them with ease, able to slide his palms over the tops of his shoes and touch the soles. Duo did not reach that far, feeling the pull in the back of his knees when his fingertips reached his ankles.</p><p class="p1">“Who?”</p><p class="p1">“Wufei.”</p><p class="p1">They tucked their feet into their groins and stretched out again.</p><p class="p1">Duo groaned as he stretched the muscles in his thighs. “He’s bossy.”</p><p class="p1">“That’s not an answer.”</p><p class="p1">“Well shit man, he’s hot. You seen those arms? Christ, bet he could bench press three of me easy.” He lowered his voice to mumble to himself, “I’d fuckin’ let him too. More than that.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa only hummed and Duo sighed. He knew Trowa had more to say, but as usual he said nothing and let Duo be himself. It didn’t bother him. His time spent with Trowa at the circus had gotten him used to the tall man’s ways, but if he asked, Trowa wouldn’t be shy about letting his thoughts be known.</p><p class="p1">“Say what you wanna say, dude. I can take it.”</p><p class="p1">They switched positions again. “If you’re looking for quick sex, one of us may not be the best option. You have plenty of other willing people out there.”</p><p class="p1">One of us. The gundam pilots, he meant, and Duo knew that. And it was a smart, logical statement—because would the dynamic of their group be altered by it? It already had been between him and Heero. It would again if it became awkward and led to a lot of avoidance between him and Wufei. Not that Wufei hung out with them much anyway, he was always working and he tended to work alone.</p><p class="p1">“Apart from that,” Trowa continued, “if it’s more than sex you’re thinking about: are you ready for that?”</p><p class="p1">“Jesus, I don’t know. Sure.”</p><p class="p1">“I think you <b>should</b> be sure first.”</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Wufei watched the two on the grass stretch out. When Duo waved at them with his whole arm, Wufei snorted and waved back. He noticed Heero made no move at all, but he was looking in their direction. “What happened to you two?” He asked gently. He had discovered quite recently that the apparent strong relationship Duo and Heero had had come crumbling down, but he knew no details. He didn’t like to gossip, but he wasn’t above listening to it. Information was his job after all, but when it came to them, the Five, it somehow didn’t feel like powder room rumors and gossip. They were the barest definition of family, somehow important to know their details and personals.</p><p class="p1">Heero adjusted his sunglasses on his nose. “We wanted different things.” A slight breeze tussled his bangs and the hem of suit pants.</p><p class="p1">Wufei still kept his hair tied back tightly, not a strand out of place. He leaned his arms on his legs, fingers laced together loosely. “He’s been different lately,” he offered up, and received no response. “I don’t see him much but…something isn’t right. He just seems off.”</p><p class="p1">Down below them, Trowa and Duo took their positions on the track path and then suddenly sprinted into action. Wufei and Heero watched them run along the track with intense speed, where Trowa’s long and lithe legs made him go farther but Duo’s trim body helped him keep up with his paces.</p><p class="p1">“That’s not my concern anymore,” Heero said coldly. “What about Sierra Leone?”</p><p class="p1">“The Commander jus briefed me on the situation.”</p><p class="p1">“And?”</p><p class="p1">“The signs indicate a chemical weapon, but there are no facilities capable of that kind of development in the country. It could be underground, unheard of as of yet by world powers, but that just isn’t likely.”</p><p class="p1">“So they’re getting help from someone else.”</p><p class="p1">The pair down on the track finished their first lap and continued on. Wufei and Heero continued to watch, with Wufei focusing on the waving braid like the tail of a dragon. Heero probably stared right through him.</p><p class="p1">“Have you pinned anything down?”</p><p class="p1">“I have my guesses,” Wufei admitted, “but until I can narrow down the highest potentials I can’t give out any names. Not even to you.”</p><p class="p1">Heero nodded. “Understood.”</p><p class="p1">Way down on the track, Duo’s laugh came at them just for a moment. Trowa must have said something funny.</p><p class="p1">Heero took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. “Relena is a pacifist first and foremost- she relies on this organization to do exactly as it’s named, but if it can’t, if this weapon is activated, she will also be relying on you to take action against it- at any cost. It will come at the cost of the individual. The Preventers will make the plans but officially they will not be involved in whatever course of action takes place. If you’re discovered, captured, it will be just like it used to be: you’re not one of us.”</p><p class="p1">“Is this coming from the Queen herself?”</p><p class="p1">“No.” Heero put his sunglasses back on and stood. “Contact me when you’re sure of the lead.” He walked to the end of the row and stepped lively down the bleachers. He turned left where a sleek black car awaited him, unmarked of even diplomatic license plates, and got into the driver’s seat.</p><p class="p1">Wufei didn’t watch him leave, instead he stared down at the track again where Trowa and Duo finished another lap and continued for one more.</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p3">Wufei kicked the stand down on his bike and leaned off of it, walking away while tucking the keys into his jacket pocket and lifting the helmet off his head. He hitched it under one arm and tapped the button for the elevator. Another car was coming into the parking garage, he could hear it from afar with how the sound traveled in an echo. He didn’t pay it any mind though- he was satisfied with the level of security the garage gave his bike. It wasn’t much, but no one would be just walking out with it. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. He got in, pushed a button, and waited to be taken up.</p><p class="p3">He had his keys ready by the time he reached his front door, unlocking it easily and letting himself in. The interior of his apartment was pale in an off-white along the walls with soft light wood in the trims, floors, and cabinetry of the kitchen right by the door. He set his keys on a ledge built into the corner of the minuscule entryway and unzipped his boots, toeing them off with a sigh.</p><p class="p1">“<em>Taoshu, I’m home!</em>” he called out gently in his native tongue into the apartment. At the words there was a rustling above him on the next floor, hurried thumping down the stairs, and turning the corner into the living area came a creamy colored rabbit hopping excitedly up to Wufei. He smiled and kneeled down to greet it, letting it put its front paws on his knees and lean up for a pet, which Wufei gave gently. The bunny nuzzled happily when Wufei put his face down to it, making chirping noises. He whispered in Mandarin to it, something about ‘missing me’ and ‘cute crème’. The rabbit loved all the attention no matter what was said. Then Wufei stood up and side-stepped into the kitchen, searching the fridge for something. Out of it he pulled a handful of raspberries and squatted to offer just one under the bunny's nose. She took it out of his fingers gently and munched and he popped two in his mouth and watched her chew. When she was done, he stroked her head and got up, going through the small living room and turning up to the stairs that led to his bedroom. Taoshu followed.</p><p class="p3">He started loosening his tie, methodically taking off every piece of clothing and folding them each in turn until he was standing in his briefs. It was already dark outside, he’d stayed late at headquarters today, and when he looked across the bed to the window he saw only his reflection in the illuminated room. He sighed and let himself fall face down on the bed, legs sticking out over the edge. Taoshu hopped onto the bed and ran excited circles around the covers and over Wufei’s back. But soon Wufei got up, and the rabbit settled down on the bedspread and watched as he opened his tiny closet and swiped the few hangers around as he decided on what to wear out. There wasn’t much to choose from, not in the way of “clubbing” clothing, but he made do with a mossy green satin button-down and faded white jeans. It was his go-to “not work but look nice” set. In the also small but attached bathroom he looked in the mirror and straightened back any hairs getting out of place, but in all he decided it was good enough, and snapped the light off as he left. He sat on the bed and pet Taoshu as she snuggled close to his thigh, and he grabbed his phone, searching the location of this “Dirty” club.</p><p class="p3"> </p><hr/><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">The building was in the middle of downtown, bricks darkened with dirt and thick with moss and…whatever else gets spilled on the side of a club. Wufei parked his bike as close to the building as possible, the chrome accents shining under the red glow of the neon sign hanging out front- DIRTY. He looked up at it after securing his bike, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and even from out there he could hear the subdued bass beat of the music inside.</p><p class="p3">“Wufei.”</p><p class="p3">Near the corner of the building in the dark, a small swirl of smoke entered the fading glow of the sign and a red cigarette tip grew and shrank before the figure stepped into the red light. It was Quatre, even with his hair glowing red and orange, even with the mesh shirt on and tight pants studded with small metal spikes it was obviously him. Wufei stepped up the curb and close to the blond, watching him take another drag of the cigarette. He smiled up at Wufei, making the heart-shaped sticker under one eye glitter.</p><p class="p3">“No one knows it’s ‘Mr. Winner’ when I look like this,” he said, almost reading Wufei’s thoughts, “except for us.”</p><p class="p3">“When did you start smoking?”</p><p class="p3">Quatre huffed out the smoke. “I only do it when we go out like this since I don’t drink. So if anyone asks: never.” He offered his cigarette to Wufei and Wufei took it. “You’re nervous.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei took a drag and savored the rich flavor and he knew it was just that- rich- by the flavor and black color of the cigarette paper. He didn’t question the odd habit Quatre had of ‘feeling’ his friends emotions. He didn’t quite understand it, but Quatre was accurate: Wufei was for some reason nervous.</p><p class="p3">“It’s odd that Duo would invite me out to something like this.” He handed the smoke back to the blond who finished it off and stubbed it out on the bricks beside him.</p><p class="p3">“Yeah I was surprised too, but I feel he’s lonely,” he said. “He wants to get to know you. Come on, he’s in there already.”</p><p class="p1">Just inside the door to the club, the bouncer and a woman waited, and the music beyond them pounded. She held up her fingers to state the price and Wufei pulled the cash out of his wallet and got a paper band wrapped around his wrist. Quatre flashed his own band already around his wrist and led Wufei further in where the strobe lights weaved around the nightclub in between flashes of neon colors. Dancers congregated on one giant dance floor, and couches and seats sat to the other side, the walls lined with mirrors. Quatre grabbed Wufei’s arm and stood up close, brushing his lips against Wufei’s ear. The puff of breath into his ear sent a shiver down his shoulders.</p><p class="p1">“I’m going to find Duo!” he shouted above the music. “Get a drink- we’ll find you!”</p><p class="p1">Wufei agreed and let the other disappear into the throng of dancers. He took himself to the bar and leaned against it, waiting his turn for the bartender to come to him and then making his order, pulling his wallet out again to throw some bills onto the counter. He looked out into the writhing bodies for a moment before turning back and when the bartender set the shot in front of him, he leaned forward and preemptively asked for two more. He downed the first shot, warm and tingling, and as he set the glass down the second and third appeared- and the contents disappeared just as fast. He rubbed his eyes and chuckled. He thought this pounding, deafening music was almost along the lines of silent meditation- alone and draining out all your stresses and frustrations.</p><p class="p1">“You made it!”</p><p class="p1">Wufei turned and Duo bounced closer with a grin stretching his lips. Wufei thought he looked strangely…normal. Like a regular guy walking on the street. A light-colored shirt under a loose and sleeveless hoodie. Black of course. Pants and big boots too. He kept the hood up which almost covered his eyes. Odd that he would opt to look so unassuming while Quatre went to lengths disguising himself in fishnets and glitter.</p><p class="p1">Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei in a tight hug and Wufei let him, allowing himself some loose freedom under the circumstances. They were drinking, partying, off-duty—he could give into Duo’s lack of “bubble” for tonight. He honestly didn’t think about it like that though, the shots were already doing their work.</p><p class="p1">“I didn’t think you’d actually come, man. I’m so fucking happy! Did you get a drink?” Duo backed out of the hug then.</p><p class="p1">“I did. But I’m going to get another, want one?” Wufei signaled the bartender to come over and waited.</p><p class="p3">“Uh—” Duo thought and then looked down at the inside of his wrist. There were a couple lines drawn there in black marker. “Yeah, I can do one more.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei scoffed. “What do you want?” He leaned into the bar-top and made his order and looked back at Duo, who had pulled a marker out of somewhere and was drawing another line next to the others on his wrist.</p><p class="p3">“Surprise me.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei made the last order, paying out the bill. He grabbed the two shots and handed one off to Duo. Duo saw his, a creamy colored liquid with whipped cream on top, and he exploded with laughter which almost went unheard in the thumping bass of the music.</p><p class="p3">“How many drinks have you <b>had</b>?” he shouted.</p><p class="p3">Wufei lifted his shot, “This the fourth.”</p><p class="p3">Duo laughed more.</p><p class="p3">“What,” Wufei taunted, “Don’t you like blowjobs?” The moment it left his mouth he wondered why he would tease like that. And then he suddenly knew of course. Screw it—it was play time, not work time, he could allow himself the unconventional humor. They clinked their tiny shot glasses together.</p><p class="p3">“You’re not allowed to ask me that,” Duo said seriously without being heard, before dumping the shot, whipped cream and all, down his throat. The glasses cracked down onto the bar-top and Duo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Wufei only at the corners of his mouth with his thumb and pointer. He looked back from the empty glasses to see Duo staring him down, pupils blown wide, with a serious and deep expression before he grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the bar.</p><p class="p3">“Let’s dance.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei let himself be dragged onto the dance floor where Quatre was already lost in the beat. He danced with a girl who wouldn’t break their intense eye contact—incredibly serious in expression and slow but hard in movement, both of them. She gripped the juncture of his shoulder and neck and he in turn wouldn’t let go of her hip. Quatre took no notice of the two joining the fray. Duo took a moment to get into the beat, letting his head weave to the music and lead his body into it. Wufei, who’d never been to a nightclub, took a little longer to join fully, but the alcohol loosened his joints and his strict control of his movements. He let his eyes drift shut and the music take him into a trance, forgetting the need for spatial awareness. The bass thumped in his chest and bodies started to clamor together, fingers brushing arms, and thighs bumping. The flashing colors seared through his eyelids and he breathed in the dense warm air of the room and somehow the shrill whistles and beating drums, the syncopated claps made perfect sense. He lived in the sound; he was sure. It moved him and moved in him and he was positive that’s how it had always been. It’s how it always would be. He chuckled at himself with the thought that the alcohol really changed his mode of thought. When he opened his eyes again, surely not because he chose to do so but because it was the right thing to do at that moment, he watched Duo immediately before him, who bumped his own body to the beat. His shirt and coat flowed and ruffled with the movement, but a hand appeared from behind him and grabbed at the naked skin of his side, reaching around the front and fingers tracing their way across Duo’s belly and up over his ribs, palm sliding over the sweating skin. In the flashing of the otherwise dark club glinted a dark ball piercing in Duo’s navel. Wufei traced the foreign hand snaking upward, the lit edges of the ribcage revealed and up the slim neck to to lock eyes with Duo, all the color of who they really were vanished and replaced with flashes of hot pink, then blue, then sunlight yellow. Another set of fingers slid into view around Duo’s neck, lifting his chin up. The hood fell back. Did Duo even realize someone was touching him like that? Wufei couldn’t really tell, but that wasn’t the true thoughts he had about the visions he saw. He had no thoughts, only feelings, and only feelings dictated by the sound, by the movement. But Duo knew. He didn’t break the eye contact he had with Wufei even when his head was tipped back by the stranger’s hand, in fact he smirked. The music seemed to be getting quiet, drowned out by the blood pumping into Wufei’s face, thumping bass replaced by his suddenly deafening heartbeat. Wufei’s movements slowed while he watched and tried to process through the fog in his brain. Duo seemed not to notice. Unless… he did notice. Duo’s own hand started to wander over his belly too, fingers framing his piercing, and he didn’t look away from Wufei’s gaze for a second. Wufei was sure he saw smoke drifting out of Duo’s mouth in little wisps. That couldn’t be right though. The sound of his blood thinned out with the sudden shout of Quatre coming out from behind him. The glittering blonde appeared at Duo’s side and pushed away at the hands that strayed over Duo’s skin. He glared at the unseen stranger and shooed him away.</p><p class="p3">Duo finally looked away from Wufei and shouted over the music to Quatre. “Aw come on, we were having fun!”</p><p class="p3">Quatre shook his head roughly but he was smiling. “Less stranger-danger fun, please!”</p><p class="p3">Duo scoffed and dismissed the term with a frivolous wave of one hand. “I had to pee anyway.” He poked Wufei in the chest just before wading through the crowd. “See ya, Peeper.”</p><p class="p3">Quatre’s hand landed on Wufei’s arm. “You alright?” He shouted close to his ear.</p><p class="p3">“I’m fine,” he shouted back. “I’m not drunk enough though,” he said a little quieter and he chuckled.</p><p class="p3">Quatre must have heard him, and he watched him with concern. “You sure?” But he didn’t wait for Wufei’s answer, letting him go and watching him make his way back to the bar.</p><p class="p3">Wufei stumbled only some on his way to the bar, and he ordered himself another shot—the blowjob he’d bought for Duo. He laughed about it to himself mid-swallow and had to steady himself on the bar with his head on his arm. He felt the shot glass pulled from his fingers and stood up as if that was his cue to back away. Duo had the right idea: pee. When the bartender came close again Wufei shouted for the bathroom. Literally—</p><p class="p3">“BATHROOM?”</p><p class="p3">And made a beeline in the direction she pointed. He pushed through the crowd of dancers rather than going around. He wasn’t sure he’d make it if he tried to go around. Not that he had to pee that badly, but that he’d lose himself if he had to navigate around the room with any kind of strategy. There was a small line formed along the wall for entrance to the bathroom, but Wufei didn’t wait, going right for the swinging door to enter as another man was exiting. Someone at the front of the line called for him to wait his turn, to which Wufei replied with a condescending chuckle and a swift Mandarin ‘go fuck your mother.’ He felt good about it, he didn’t try to curse at people usually.</p><p class="p3">The restroom was crowded as well, the line seeming to extend inside along one wall too, but the urinals were curiously pretty vacant. Wufei took his place in front of a urinal and started to unzip his fly.</p><p class="p3">“You swearing, ‘Fei?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei reached into his pants and pulled himself out at the same time he looked over his shoulder and around the room in confusion. A chuckle from above made him look up to the top of the bathroom stall where Duo’s head rested on one arm over it. Wufei snickered and looked back to the urinal, making sure his aim on target before letting his stream go.</p><p class="p3">“Don’t matter,” he slurred and looked back to Duo, “-Nobody know what I said.” The aim was close enough. He wasn’t pissing on his shoes and that’s all that mattered.</p><p class="p3">Duo answered him with a mere hum, just watching Wufei while he peed.</p><p class="p3">“Now who’s the peeper?” He said and shook and tucked himself away. “Are you done?”</p><p class="p3">Duo seemed to be reminded of why he was in here, eyes going wide for a second. “Oh! Yeah, hold on.” His head disappeared downwards, jumping down from the toilet he must have been standing on.</p><p class="p3">Wufei went to wash his hands, trying to keep that one sober fact clear in his mind. Party, yes. Pee hands, no. Not that he had done that. When he dried his hands sloppily on the paper towels, Duo appeared from the stall, furiously rubbing the underside of his nose and sniffing hard. The line for the stall seemed to change out quickly—a couple men going into the stall at the same time and exiting together fairly fast as well.</p><p class="p3">“Shit yeah, let’s go.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>PLEASE READ BEFORE THE STORY!<br/>I'm looking for true constructive criticism here. I know it's a pain in the ass, and if it's not your thing then continue onward, but even spelling errors I'm interested in. I'm trying to work on story-telling, voice and style, and I'll even take your flames if that's what you really wanna dish out for out-of-character personalities or inaccuracies of military know-how or languages, whatever. Please. It would make me very happy and be a learning experience for everyone. Is it moving too fast? Is it confusing to know who's talking? Literally anything. If you prefer to privately give your feedback, you could email me at wheynetc@gmail.com<br/>Please and thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei’s eyes cracked open against the sunlight pouring into the room. The ceiling showed a bright stream of white shouldered by shadows from the glass door to the left. He inhaled sharply, one arm weakly lifting and falling back onto the bed. His mouth was dry. Every time he tried to close his eyes again they just burned. The ceiling wasn’t right; it wasn’t his ceiling- the tapestry was missing, but— He let his head fall to the side on the pillow, finding a naked leg and foot hanging onto the top of the bed, the rest of the body most likely hanging down onto the floor. Wufei took a breath and closed his mouth, trying to clear his throat and wet his tongue.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Duo,” he grumbled, voice gravelly. He cleared his throat again and found the energy to lean up and get a few inches closer to the leg. “Duo.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Hmmm…?” Came the sleepy reply, and the leg slid off the bed, thumping to the floor.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei cleared his throat once more, getting stronger in his bones little by little. He rubbed his face with the entire palm of his hand. “I um…- What time is it?” He noticed that jeans were still on, but socks, shoes, and shirt were absent. He wondered how he had even been conscious enough to undress himself that night. Or morning. It was surely in the a.m. when they left the club.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Uh… I—I dunno.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Where’s my watch?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Sss—” Duo slurred sleepily. “Ss-on the counter I think.” He rolled over and rested his cheek on the cool linoleum. He groaned a pleasured sound.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei took a moment to lie flat on the bed, brain tilting left and right from the night before. But he rolled and got up, taking two steps towards the end of the room where the kitchen counter stood before stumbling to his knees. The room was spinning, spinning enough that Wufei, on all fours, fell to his side with a groan.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Still from his side of the room Duo opened his eyes, positioned perfectly to see under the bed and across to where Wufei lie. “You okay?” he called weakly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei groaned again and flipped onto his back. “Iiii-I’m still drunk.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo chuckled, body convulsing as he tried to keep himself under control. “That’s great.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> They lie on the floor in silence for a few moments, the sunlight still illuminating the apartment brightly. A harsh buzzing noise started suddenly, and the two men lifted their heads and weakly looked around the room. Across the floor a cell phone vibrated repeatedly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Whasthat?” Duo grunted as Wufei reached out for it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “My phone.” He touched the screen and put the cell to his ear. “Chang.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo found the energy to get up while Wufei listened to whomever was on the other end of the line, just enough to raise himself onto the edge of the bed and wait. He listened to Wufei’s confirmations to the person on the phone- “yes ma’am” and “of course”, while resting his arms on his knees, hands down and limp. He stared down between his naked legs, dressed only in his dark blue briefs, thinking about nothing. Behind him, Wufei pulled the phone away from his ear and dropped his arm to the floor.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “We’re late,” he said.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo huffed out a chuckle. “Une?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Hm.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Where are my clothes?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Dresser.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei sighed and steeled himself for a moment before shakily getting up. He found the dresser where his shirt was folded, his shoes on the floor next to the dresser with his socks laid over them. Somehow they were laid out with pristine care. He didn’t expect that from Duo. Or was that his own doing? He couldn’t remember. But he put the shirt on, and his socks and shoes, and turned around to pick his phone up off the floor. Putting the phone into his pocket, he looked up, finding Duo hunched over on the bed. The sun didn’t shine on him, it spread onto the bed just to his right. He hadn’t moved.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Duo?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo only hummed vaguely in question to Wufei’s call, not looking back at him or moving at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei came around the bed, watching the man sitting silent and motionless. “Duo.” He stood at his feet, putting his shoes in full view of Duo’s line of sight. He looked down at the top of Duo’s head. His vision was a little swimmy, and he felt like he was still swaying from the alcohol, but he couldn’t be sure. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you crashing?” he asked quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo scoffed, rough and wet. “Crashing?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “You were on something last night. You were on something the whole day. I’m not stupid.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Psh.” Duo sniffed and rubbed his nose hard. “So?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “What you do on your own time is your business, but I’m asking you if you’re crashing.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> After a few seconds of stillness Duo nodded, his whole top half waving with his head. “Yeah.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei sighed and stepped away, going to the dresser in the open closet and pulling open the drawers rougher than he had wanted to, selecting clothing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I’ll be okay. Just gotta get to work,” Duo mumbled behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei stepped into his vision again and pushed Duo by the shoulder to sit up. He held open the waist to a pair of black pants at Duo’s knees. “Feet in- I’ll help you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The two slowly worked Duo into his clothes, one party hardly being able to hold himself up throughout. He leaned on Wufei to pull his pants up over his hips while Wufei held him firmly. He held up his arms and let Wufei slide a black T-shirt over him, put socks on his feet. Tie his boots. Duo watched all this with half-open eyes, weak and tired. He looked down at the top of Wufei’s head while his boots were laced, and he watched his hand drift on its own to rest over the black hair. The motion made Wufei look up and Duo’s hand slipped off, dragging a few more strands of hair out of place to join the others loose around Wufei’s face. Duo pursed his lips slowly in some kind of apology.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Hair’s soft,” he mumbled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> He let Wufei guide him back and forth in the apartment- fetching his wallet, keys, and phone and putting them into the designated pockets of his Preventer jacket. Wufei was still wobbly getting around though he was still somehow the more sober of the two, not believing that Duo would be able to drive himself to work. After stepping out of the apartment, Duo seemed able to walk, slow as he might have been, it was still self-supported. They went down the stairs of the complex slowly, and Wufei watched Duo’s progress carefully, ready to catch him if he stumbled, but he himself had to hold on the rail in case he tripped on his own feet. In the parking lot, Wufei saw his motorcycle parked beside Duo’s Jeep and he wrinkled his eyebrows at it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Did I…drive us here last night?” He had been near blackout drunk. Driving himself and Duo to the apartment- on a motorbike no less- would have been monumentally stupid.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I did.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The thought of a drugged up and drunk Duo being the apparent best choice of driver made Wufei’s head hurt. And Wufei must have been drunk out of his mind to allow someone else to drive his bike. No one touched that thing. He wished he remembered how that could have seemed like a good decision, but really maybe he was glad he didn’t remember too. Never again, he vowed to himself. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “We’re taking yours,” Wufei decided. “I’ll drive.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “But you’re still drunk.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I’ll drive, Maxwell.” Wufei took the keys out of Duo’s jacket and unlocked the Jeep, pulling himself up and into the driver’s seat and watching Duo slowly haul himself in as well.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei walked with Duo to his workstation in the engineering building, keeping a good distance between them as was normal, but close enough to hold him up if anything were to happen. They managed to not run into too many people, even at the midmorning hour, and those they did pass by the pair merely glanced at them. They were in street clothes after all. No Preventer really came to work out of uniform. At the door to the engineering hangar, Duo punched in his authorization code and opened it when the machine beeped and a tiny light went from blue to green. He took a step into the lab and stopped.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Thanks for helping me out. I had a good time—I’m glad you came with me,” he said to Wufei quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei allowed himself a weak half-smile. “I did too. Thank you for driving me to your apartment last night. Safely. Apparently.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Duo nodded and they stood in silence for a moment before Duo sniffed and said, “Well, I’ll see you around, buddy.” And he closed the heavy door behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei looked into the cut-out window in the door and into the labs— other techs stood at their bays, what would amount to their version of a cubicle, and tinkered on their projects. A busy work area with drilling noises, sparks lightning up a workbench. He watched Duo stumble through the main aisle to his personal work space disappear into it.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> At the door marked “Commander Une”, Wufei knocked firmly and waited until he heard a voice from within the room.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Come.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> He went in and closed the door behind him. At the far end of the quiet office was a desk, Lady Une seated behind it and writing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Forgive my tardiness, Commander. It won’t happen again.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “You’ve never been late before; are you-“ She looked up from her papers and her mouth snapped shut, puzzled. “You’re not in uniform.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei was hesitant. His off-duty time was private, and he wouldn’t have to delve into why he was so late and underdressed, but he felt somehow embarrassed about it. “I…didn’t have time to go home and change- Duo needed help getting to work. But I have a uniform in my locker. I wanted to see you first before I changed.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> She nodded slowly and leaned back in her soft leather chair. Her hands folded in her lap after brushing her hair off her shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out of uniform. Sit, Chang.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei did as told and took one of the two chairs in front of her desk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I’ve heard rumors that Agent Maxwell hasn’t been himself lately. I wouldn’t know the difference- he’s always been too rambunctious and strange for me. I can barely wrap my head around the idea of him being a Gundam pilot. Are you close to him?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei could understand that, but Duo wasn’t even the weirdest choice of pilot among them—Quatre was. A rich-boy pacifist, son of a multi-billionaire corporation leader, suddenly directing a killing machine in space? And he did surprisingly well. Even Wufei himself was an oddity among them with no mobile suit or tactical warfare training, only rage and confusion to guide him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Lately we’ve become more friendly. We weren’t that close during the war. We nearly never saw each other.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Une hummed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Are you… Would you like me to keep an eye on him?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “No, not necessarily. As a former pilot, and Preventer agent and engineer, I have high faith in him. But as some of you know, even I’ve had my share of…” she paused only a moment and squinted her eyes as she decided on the right choice of words “…issues. I don’t look down on anyone who may need help, and if you find that Agent Maxwell, or anyone, may need something of the psychological nature- I’d like them to get the assistance they need. Will you come to me if such a need arises?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Of course, ma’am.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Good. Thank you. You may go, I know you have plenty of work to do.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” Wufei left the Commander’s office wondering. He leaned against the door, thinking that yes indeed he did have things to work on, but other things pressed harder on his mind. Decided, he pushed off the door and took to the hallways.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">  At another thick bulkhead of a door, Wufei tapped his authorization code into the pad and let himself in when it unlocked. The lab inside was lit with white light like sunshine but not bright enough to squint, and the layout was broadly spaced, plenty of carpet room. There were green, unflowering plants and succulents everywhere. In one of the padded grey chairs sat Quatre in a white lab coat, clipboard in hand and making marks with a pen. He glanced between it and an open folder on the arm of the chair. But he looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled, rising to greet Wufei.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Wufei! It’s a surprise to see you up here. Do you uh…” Quatre hesitated and chuckled. “Would you like some coffee or tea? You feel a little…fuzzy.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yes, please. I woke up drunk and late for work this morning.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The blond laughed and set his clipboard on the lab table between them before going to the coffee machine on the counter. “When you party with Duo, you party hard.” The machine whirred to life and the dark liquid streamed into a ready mug. “What brings you to my office?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “It’s actually about Duo.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “All right.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The mug was filled and Quatre handed the coffee, black and plain, to Wufei who accepted it with a small thanks. Quatre beckoned him to follow as he moved to sit back down on his lounge chair. Wufei took the replica that sat near his, separated by the very small end table.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei hesitated speaking just yet, sipping the strong coffee and thinking about how he was going to open the discussion. Quatre waited patiently with his knees together, arms resting on the chair. His eyes were open and inviting as they always had been. Wufei wondered at how Quatre could still look so bright and cheery, oddly innocent, after the mental turmoil he’d gone through in the war. It seemed that it only made him stronger in the end.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “He’s taking something,” Wufei settled on saying bluntly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Quatre nodded. “It’s cocaine.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei looked up from his cup at the blond in surprise, but Quatre still nodded knowingly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I know what he’s doing. He uses it only when we go out to clubs.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “That can’t be,” Wufei countered, shaking his head. “Have you seen him lately? He’s wild and strung-out.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yes, I’ve seen the signs that he must be using it at headquarters as well.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei took in this information, blinking at Quatre and stunned. “How are you calm about this?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Quatre inhaled sharply and shifted one leg over a knee. “Well I wasn’t sure he was until yesterday, and you coming here now means other people can tell too.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “The <b>Commander</b> can tell something isn’t right with him,” Wufei stressed, “I just came from her office about it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Wufei I can’t force him to stop. I can only warn, plead, and care.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei’s ire started to bubble into his throat, face scrunched into a disgusted disbelief. “You’re enabling him by allowing him to get high at clubs! Going with him to places knowing exactly what he’s doing. How do you justify yourself for that?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Quatre’s face was suddenly of storm of anger. “I’d rather he snort coke in the bathroom than kill himself because he thinks he’s not good enough for anyone!” he shouted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei stared, and Quatre, immediately after his outburst, inhaled deeply to calm himself.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to yell in your face. I just…” Quatre sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Wufei had looked away already and was slowly shaking his head. He wanted to scoff and question Quatre’s judgement. A good ‘what the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Went through his mind, but he didn’t say it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I want him to be happy. Somehow.” Quatre was restrained again, looking across the floor at nothing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “And how are you going to feel when he dies in an overdose? Or is that not ‘killing himself’ in your eyes?” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Quatre stammered and blinked, floundering for a justification. Wufei just scoffed, finally and feeling good about it, though he wouldn’t have been able to retrain that one, and got up from his seat, heading for the door. He was suddenly quite finished with the conversation as quickly as it had begun. He hoped Quatre was vividly imagining Duo’s dead body surrounded by a crowd of frozen dancers in the club, a puddle of vomit beside him and nose bleeding down to his neck, those odd blue eyes pointed up at the ceiling. That’s what Wufei saw, and while he and Duo may not be the closest of friends as of yet, the image confused and gouged a hole in him—the thought of one of them, the Five, dead. For something so wastefully idiotic.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Wufei, you-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I thought you were the strongest of us, Winner,” he said as he let himself out of the lab.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">  Wufei sat in his office, leaned back in his chair and staring at the table. Papers falling out of their folders covered the area, laptop in the center with the screensaver that bounced a plain “Preventers” off the border. His coffee was cold. Unconsciously he tapped a pen on the padded armrest of the chair. When he finally got his thoughts together, he left his office and made his way across the Preventer compound.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The hangar he walked toward was massive and grey, joined to a regular rectangular building of the same color. Greys, tans, and army greens only for Preventers. A sign to the left of the doors said “Munition Storage Area.” The double doors to the hangar were pulled open wide, letting the sunlight in, and men in varying states of uniform went to and fro at their jobs, signing off on clipboards, hauling cargo on forklifts. Wufei didn’t need to be guided, and while a few of the workers watched him enter and stroll through, they did not question him about his reason for being there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> In a far corner, mostly surrounded by walls of crates and a floor-to-very-high ceiling chain-link fence, Wufei found his target squatting next to a large bomb and fiddling with its insides through a panel on the side.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Barton, do you have a minute to talk?”</span>
</p><p class="p3">Trowa spared Wufei a glance but kept his fingers moving within the panel. He reached for a short screwdriver beside his boot. “Plenty.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei didn’t expect him to stop and fully engage with him, especially not in the middle of tinkering with a bomb. “Have you ever made chemical weapons?”</p><p class="p3">“Yes.”</p><p class="p3">“Have you delivered them before?”</p><p class="p3">Trowa stopped his work and looked up at him. “Am I under oath?” He asked, a slight upturn of the corner of his mouth.</p><p class="p3">Wufei in turn let out a small breath of a laugh. They would all be tried and convicted of every war crime under the sun if Une and the great Queen hadn’t sheltered them so quickly with speeches about heroism. “I’m working on a project—searching for signs of kindling.”</p><p class="p3">Trowa nodded, looking back to the wires he now took up. “Then yes: I have made, delivered, and detonated chemical weapons before.” With a pair of clippers he snipped a wire short and stripped the rubber casing off to tie it in with another one.</p><p class="p3">Wufei leaned his shoulder on the fence. “I have many more questions now,” he informed.</p><p class="p3">“So ask me.”</p><p class="p3">“Are there chances of leakage during transport and what is the probability of such? What’s the best way to transport them? Could you detect a leak or trace elements from a large distance? And some others I can’t think of right now.” He also wondered where and on whom Trowa had used these weapons, but he understood Trowa had a longer history of war in his life than any of the other Gundam pilots. Wufei preferred not to use methods such as that, it was deceitful and dishonorable, but Trowa had no such qualms. Not that Wufei knew of anyways. Everyone had their checkered past, and Trowa’s would be as black as night he supposed.</p><p class="p3">Trowa closed the panel to the interior of the weapon and locked it. “There’s always risk of a leak,” he said, picking up the few tools he had scattered beside him. “Transport depends on where they’re going and to whom the parties are shipping and receiving.” The tools were slotted into his coveralls’ pockets and then he pulled his greased rubber gloves off with a stretching snap. He also put the used gloves into his pockets. “And it’s probable that traces could be detected. The distance would be something to develop.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei nodded at the intake of information. Answers without really being the details he wanted. “Do you have time for a confidential discussion?”</p><p class="p3">Trowa nodded once and walked past Wufei and led him to Trowa’s own small office in the attached building. Inside, he unzipped the tan coveralls and pulled it down around his waist, revealing just a plain white T-shirt underneath and a glimpse of a gold chain leading under it. He sat in his rolling chair and crossed his legs. Wufei leaned on the top of the desk, resting one leg against it. There was absolutely nothing to look at in Trowa’s office. There was the desk, a three-file cabinet in the corner, and his chair. And apart from the laptop there was nothing else to indicate he even worked in there. No pens, no papers, no personal effects.</p><p class="p3">Wufei took the initiative in the conversation; it was mostly going to be him talking anyway. “I believe there are chemical weapons being built in Sierra Leone. Or parts are being shipped to or from them—I’m not sure yet. I need to be able to detect product from afar. If I can’t, the facilities will have to be infiltrated and everything looked through by hand. I’d rather not put any men physically in the building: if somehow they’re caught, the powers that are funding their endeavor will cut all ties and start their fire somewhere else.”</p><p class="p3">“Then you’re not looking for radioactive materials.”</p><p class="p3">“Not as far as I know. I can’t even say what specifically I <b>am</b> looking for. Une gave me all the information I have and it’s from an informant of hers that just…” Wufei waved a hand in the air at a loss, “wanders around poking his nose into things? I have no idea.”</p><p class="p3">Trowa nodded sagely. While Wufei sat against his desk, staring at his knee in thought, Trowa opened a desk drawer and pulled out an object, setting it on the desk between the two. He closed the drawer and leaned back in his chair again. It was a figure of a clown with a rounded base to sit nicely, and it just stared at Wufei with it’s mouth open in a wide red-lipped grin. Wufei looked between Trowa and the clown toy. Trowa’s face was stoic as usual. Because this situation wasn’t unusual apparently.</p><p class="p3">“What is that.” Wufei asked flatly.</p><p class="p3">“It’s a stress-relief toy. I gave it to Duo at one point, and he gave it back because he said it made him want to choke me. Much in the same way you choke the toy.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei stared down at the clown—the toy— and felt the skin on the back of his neck prickle. “Okay?”</p><p class="p3">“I want you to give it to him.”</p><p class="p3">“But you said he gave it back.”</p><p class="p3">“I know. You went to the club with him and Quatre, right? What did you think?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei had picked up the toy gently and eyed it with suspicion. Trowa had said it was a stress-relief toy—you squeeze those…so he did. A small tongue popped out of the blackness of the mouth and a shrill and annoying laugh came from the small soundbox inside. Wufei tried to cover his ashamed smile with one hand as fast as he could, hand splayed over his face, but Trowa had seen and chuckled about it anyway. He understood why he’d be gifting it to Duo again.</p><p class="p3">“Yes, I went,” he whispered while he gathered himself to seriousness again. “I had a good time. I got very drunk. Speaking of which: are you aware of Duo’s drug problem?”</p><p class="p3">“Which one?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei involuntarily squeezed the clown toy, letting the thing laugh at him again while he turned on Trowa. “What do you mean ‘which one’?”</p><p class="p3">“I mean the one now or during the war? It used to be speed. It’s cocaine now I believe. Which I guess you know.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei sighed. “How’d he get off the other one?”</p><p class="p3">“The war ended.”</p><p class="p3">“That’s all? The war ends and he can drop a drug addiction.”</p><p class="p3">Trowa bobbed his head side to side in uncertainty. “Why don’t you ask Duo about it? You’ll be dropping that off to him anyway. And you can ask about the development of a device for your fire issue.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei sighed again and pushed off the desk. Before he left the office he thanked Trowa for…whatever he had gotten from him. He tucked the toy in his jacket pocket, certainly not willing to be seen holding it while he walked back across the compound. He was going to deliver the gift, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Duo again so soon. It had been a few hours since they made it to work, he was sure Duo would be better now, but something was still niggling at the back of his brain. Now he had more information on Duo’s apparent proclivity for drugs, though not much.</p><p class="p3">He was able to walk through his department along the cubicle floors to get to the engineering building, and he was surprised when he entered the main bay to not find Duo running about with a new machine like he usually did. The other techs were there, hard at work, some sparks flying from either faulty wiring or a welding job, and the noise was always a bunch of whirring and computer beeps, and rarely some tiny mechanical explosion. Wufei stood at Duo’s workbench and glanced around at the assortment of metal and wires and microchips flung everywhere. An ‘organized mess’ he was sure Duo would say. Wufei jumped a little when a static hiss came from the back of the work station, and Duo’s voice followed it quietly.</p><p class="p3">
  <em>“What are you doing at my bench?”</em>
</p><p class="p3">Wufei turned a 360 slowly, looking around and seeing just the other mechanics and techs still at work. When he turned back to the work station, a small screen in the back with groups of wires laid over it flashed on to show Wufei…himself. A little grainy and without color, but it was him. Duo’s voice chuckled through the speaker.</p><p class="p3">
  <em>“Yes, where am I, Peeper?”</em>
</p><p class="p3">“Don’t call me that, Maxwell.”</p><p class="p3">
  <em>“You didn’t mind it last night.”</em>
</p><p class="p3">Devil.</p><p class="p3">Wufei stared at the video feed of himself and huffed. “I have something for you.”</p><p class="p3">The long braid of hair flopped down from the heavens and swung before him, and when he looked up, he found Duo upside-down and gently swaying at the end of a thin rope. Grinning of course.</p><p class="p3">“I’m testing the endurance of my new little item. I feel like What’s-His-Face in that old-ass spy movie. You know that one?”</p><p class="p3">“I do not.”</p><p class="p3">Duo loosened his grip and let himself flip down to the floor. “You like spy movies?” He asked as he pulled the rope down to him and inspected it for weak spots.</p><p class="p3">“I don’t know—I haven’t seen many movies.”</p><p class="p3">He coiled the rope over his palm and under his elbow. “I thought for sure you were gonna say you like them old kung-fu ones.”</p><p class="p3">“So I could call them out on the horrible moves and posture? That’s not enjoyable.”</p><p class="p3">“Yeah, I guess not. So you brought me something?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei’s fingers smoothed over the texture of the clown in his pocket, but he didn’t reveal it. He watched him closely, noting that his eyes seemed…normal enough. Bloodshot maybe, but not blown out. His behavior seemed less jumpy too. “I need something from you first.”</p><p class="p3">Duo hummed and smiled. “I think doing a flyby and trying to use some machine to detect some chems isn’t worth the time, and also lame.” He leaned back against his countertop of devices and junk.</p><p class="p3">Wufei blinked. “What?”</p><p class="p3">“I think an op would get you the info you want. And I think you’re standing in front of the perfect candidate. In fact, you don’t even have to ask—I volunteer!” He shrugged one shoulder at Wufei’s confusion. “I knew you were coming: Trowa called ahead.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei rubbed one eyebrow and wished he could squeeze the clown. Both of them. “Why is it not worth the time?”</p><p class="p3">“Because you don’t even know what you’re looking for. I <b>could</b> make some ‘all-seeing’ detecting machine, but let me tell you what you’ll get—“ he held up his hand and started counting off with his fingers, “-crap-tons of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, not to mention those little wispies of neon, helium, methane—“</p><p class="p3">“Alright, I get it.”</p><p class="p3">“You’ll get a little bit of everything, and it’s not gonna help you when everything in the stupid periodic table is there in the atmosphere. If you knew what you wanted to find specifically, then maybe we could do it.”</p><p class="p3">“You’re saying if I do come to you with specifics, you’ll make it?”</p><p class="p3">Duo clicked his tongue unhappily. “Fuck. Walked myself right into that deal.” He looked around at his scrap piles and gadgets without really looking. “I’ll try to. But you gotta work on this thing. Want some help?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei leaned down on the workbench and tapped his fingers on it. “Maybe. Une handed me a folder of basically nothing—“</p><p class="p3">“And expects a fucking miracle. Sounds about right. If her little mole is so damn good at digging up this shit, then why don’t they have all the deets? Or fix the shit themselves?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei just shook his head. He knew as much as Duo did, which was nothing.</p><p class="p3">Duo looked at his watch. “Well what are you doing tonight?”</p><p class="p3">“Not going to a club, Maxwell.”</p><p class="p3">“I’m not either, but it’s quittin’ time and I haven’t eaten yet today. I’m starvin’, you haven’t seen any movies lately, and there’s a project we can work on together, if you’re up for it.”</p><p class="p3">He’d never spent so much time with Duo before. Maybe during the war, but that was “work” in a sense. And he never would have accepted an invitation to party nor spend an evening from him then. But he was finding that loosening up a little was making his life easier. Easier to make friends, easier to get what you asked for, easier to have fun and be happy. He couldn’t be a tight-ass all the time. That’s what Duo had called him once: a tight-ass. He wasn’t wrong. And here Duo was offering an opportunity to work and play in the same night. He’d have to get a ride to his bike from him anyway.</p><p class="p3">“Sure.”</p><p class="p3">He’d just be going home and agonizing over his assignment all night otherwise.</p><p class="p3">Duo grinned. “Great! I gotta lock my shit up, then we can go, if you’re ready.”</p><p class="p3">“I need to get my clothes from my office. And the files. I’ll meet you at your car.” He began to walk away and Duo had turned around, turning off his gadgets and cleaning up his tech. Wufei thought this was his chance and quietly took out the clown toy and placed it on the edge of the workbench. Then he kept walking away slowly. “That’s from Trowa, by the way!” He called.</p><p class="p3">After a moment, the irritating laughter (heh-heh-heh-heh-HEH!) from the clown rang out and Duo roared, “MOTHERFUCKER!”</p><p class="p3">Wufei glanced back at the commotion and saw Duo strangling the toy with both hands.</p><p class="p3">“I hate you so much! Aaaarrgh!”</p><p class="p3">The clown continued to poke his tongue out and laugh at him.</p><p class="p3"> </p><hr/><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">As the two entered the apartment Duo dropped his keys on the counter.</p><p class="p3">“You okay to eat outside? Pretty nice out.”</p><p class="p3">“Sure.” Wufei took the bag of takeout to the sliding glass door and let himself outside onto the balcony. Even he didn’t have a balcony. But as he looked out at the view, the view of a less well-off neighborhood, he thought it was fine that he didn’t. The view in his apartment was better he thought. But there was “private” seating here on the balcony so that was the trade-off. He set the bag on the floor and started unpacking the to-go boxes of Mexican food on the small metal table. Duo joined him after a second and handed him a fork and set down two bottles of beer.</p><p class="p3">“I didn’t ask if you like beer,” he said, taking one of the slim patio chairs. “But it doesn’t matter because if you’re eating Mexican then you have to have a Mexican beer.”</p><p class="p3">Sound line of thinking, he supposed.</p><p class="p3">Wufei opened his box and picked up a flauta. “Does that mean if you’re eating Japanese, you drink a Japanese beer?”</p><p class="p3">“Yup. Got Asahi in the fridge right now.”</p><p class="p3">“Of course.”</p><p class="p3">“Can I ask you something personal?” Duo asked, leaning back in his chair, taking a bite of a taco and chewing quietly, beer in hand.</p><p class="p3">“I suppose so.” Wufei dipped his crispy flauta into the sour cream and took a crunchy bite.</p><p class="p3">“Why don’t you grow your hair out? You already got a tail. Don’t Chinese guys grow their hair super long? Fancy ‘do’s and such?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei snickered. “When was the last time you saw a Chinese man—1600 AD? Maybe it’s those Kung-Fu movies.”</p><p class="p3">“Nah, don’t give me that. Your colony was a bunch of traditionalists. You still practice your fighting and stuff. Quatre says you even live in the China-town downtown.”</p><p class="p3">“Well…” Wufei leaned back in his chair too, rubbing his fingers in his napkin and taking a swig of the cold golden beer. He looked over the crummy neighborhood at the inhabitants out on their own porches of their houses. Someone was playing a kind of low and slow music through the open windows, serving as the background music for the neighborhood. Kids ran up the street to the swingset and big-toy in the park nearby. He thought about when he would sit under that tree on the hill in his colony and read, sometimes his concentration broken by the joyful screams of the young children tumbling around and playing at the bottom. He would watch them for a moment then grunt and go back to his book. Now as he sat on Duo’s balcony he realized he missed those days. Or maybe this music just made him feel oddly nostalgic.</p><p class="p3">“I was growing it out when I was younger. We are…were, traditionalists, you’re right. I kept it cut like this during the war because I couldn’t take the time to care for it if I let it go longer.” He glanced over at Duo who was watching the neighborhood as well, munching on his taco. He noted the long and thick rope of hair flung over the back of the chair and knew of course that wasn’t the reason he had cut it. Duo obviously had time to take care of his giant mane during the war. He was surprised the braid even made it intact—it could have been good leverage in an interrogation. Though he was sure that Duo also knew that fact. “You know I was married back then?”</p><p class="p3">Duo nodded. “Quatre told me.”</p><p class="p3">“She was killed by a battle. She was a strong girl. Staunchly moral, strong sense of justice. Also arrogant, but that’s beside the point. We probably would have made a terrible future for each other had she not died, but when she did I knew something important had been taken from the world, and even though she was a fighter, she was a protector. She was a rebel in a way, and if I didn’t take up her role—honor her memory and get justice in a blood-thirsty world, then I wasn’t worthy of my clan. So I cut my hair to keep that alive. If people wanted to take and take, then I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of taking from me again.”</p><p class="p3">“You did it <b>for</b> them; cutting your hair yourself to laugh in their face.” Duo watched Wufei as he sat motionless, staring at the houses across the street. “I never pictured you as a rebellious teenager, ‘Fei.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei smirked. “I guess so. It wasn’t thought out like that during the war, but I guess that’s how I feel about it now. I was a very angry teen.”</p><p class="p3">Duo sat up and reached across the small table to pick up Wufei’s empty box and stack it on his. He got up to take them into the apartment. “You could grow it out now: fighting’s over,” he called from within, dumping the boxes in the trash.</p><p class="p3">Wufei hummed in non-commitment, just acknowledging the suggestion. It was starting to get dark, dinner was over, and the parents were calling their kids inside for their own dinners. Duo joined him again at the table, a new beer for the both of them, chilled and crisp. He sighed happily as he lowered himself into the chair.</p><p class="p3">“So tell me about your assignment.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei did, getting the thin folder Une had given him and handing it to Duo, explaining the minimal information he had been given. Almost nothing. Duo fetched his laptop and set it on the table, the both of them pulling their chairs close to see the screen together while they worked on the info. Duo kept his home laptop linked to the databases at Preventer headquarters (highly illegal, but who was going to tell that to him), and looked through the files on Sierra Leone.</p><p class="p3">“Sierra Leone is a small country that struggles with poverty and political upheaval,” Wufei said. “I don’t know how Une’s informant pinpointed it for something big like chemical weapons. Enough to draw our attention.”</p><p class="p3">Duo’s fingers clacked along the keyboard. “It’s the tiny guys you least expect. They must be good at something or have something real nice.”</p><p class="p3">“Their economy is based on mining.”</p><p class="p3">“Mining what?”</p><p class="p3">Wufei shrugged. “Diamonds, gold, titanium.”</p><p class="p3">“Doesn’t sound very evil.” He looked through the file he pulled up and closed it again just as quickly. “Let’s look at their recent business deals.” More clicking. The list that appeared made Duo groan. “Jesus look at this thing!”</p><p class="p3">Wufei groaned too—the list was of the imports and exports of the last year, complete with prices, business buyer names, dates, quantities. Expansive and boring. “Send me half of it, you get the other half.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, ready to receive.</p><p class="p3">“Want imports or exports?”</p><p class="p3">“Exports, I guess.”</p><p class="p3">Duo sent the file off to Wufei’s phone and they leaned back in their chairs, sighing together at the boring work ahead of them.</p><p class="p3">“I don’t know what I think I’m going to find: they’re not going to have “chemical weapons” listed on their exports.”</p><p class="p3">Duo laughed. “Not unless they’re fucking stupid.”</p><p class="p3">Then they worked. Wufei went through his list slowly and highlighted over the file any products he questioned. He would look them up in more detail later. Duo did the same, opening a blank page beside the file and typing in his thoughts on what he saw. The night came overhead and they made no note of it. The neighborhood was fairly quiet with only an occasional outbreak of laughter from a group of middle-aged couples on a porch down the street. The two street lamps on the road were lit with that thick orange-gold glow. Wufei kept his second beer in one hand and sipped. He liked the vague buzz he felt from it, very light. He thought this is what working from home should be like: beer on the balcony on a warm summer night and taking the work with less stress. He could stress in his office chair during paid hours like everyone else. With Duo beside him occasionally humming, chuckling and typing away his thoughts, Wufei wondered what he did with his free time. His apartment was tiny—a studio apartment, with not much in the way of personalization. Did he really spend so much time out of it, partying? Or did he just work a lot? Maybe he hung out with Quatre more than he thought.</p><p class="p3">“Can I ask <b>you</b> something personal?”</p><p class="p3">Duo chuckled. “You already know the story about my hair.”</p><p class="p3">“Not that.” He scrolled slowly through the exports list.</p><p class="p3">“Alright, then what?”</p><p class="p3">“You were on speed during the war?” Wufei tried so hard to keep the question non-accusatory.</p><p class="p3">It didn’t seem to bother Duo, continuing to scroll through his half and type. “Sure was.”</p><p class="p3">“How did you get off?”</p><p class="p3">“Trowa didn’t tell you?”</p><p class="p3">“He said I should ask you.”</p><p class="p3">“Mmm.” Duo stopped reading and grabbed his beer again, drinking a long gulp. “He helped me. I tried to stick with Hilde, run our scrap-shop, but uh…” Duo stared off across the street for a second before clearing his throat. “We weren’t working out, I was taking more than I was during the war, and I had to jump ship basically. Only quiet and isolated place I knew with a friend was Trowa. So I tracked him down, stayed with him a while, and then I was clean.”</p><p class="p3">“But not anymore.”</p><p class="p3">Duo snickered and went back to his typing. “I’ve been on and off some kind of drug my whole life, man. Can’t live in the streets without it being everywhere. It’s not a big deal.”</p><p class="p3">“It is a big deal.”</p><p class="p3">“Don’t lecture me, dude,” Duo said seriously, not looking away from his screen. “I know what I’m doing.”</p><p class="p3">Not usually one to shy away from confrontation, Wufei was oddly glad the way they sat together didn’t position them face to face. Somehow this conversation was easier to have without eye contact. The lack of eye contact was what kept Wufei from shouting in Duo’s face. He knew it was time to go though. He shouldn’t have brought it up. But he had to. He looked at his watch even though his phone in his hand showed the time, and sighed.</p><p class="p3">“I need to go home and shower,” he said. “Get back to work on this in the morning.” He stood and tucked his phone away.</p><p class="p3">Duo stood too. “I feel ya, I’m still all sticky from the club.” He handed Wufei his folder and walked with him through his apartment to the door. “Thanks for coming out with me, by the way. To the club and, you know, dinner. Nice to see you get loose. You work too hard.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei chuckled weakly, suddenly tired. “Sometimes I think that too. Thank you for having me over.”</p><p class="p3">“Not a problem, man.”</p><p class="p3">Wufei stood on the doormat outside Duo’s door and looked at him in the dark, lit from behind by the room beyond. He thought ‘as soon as I leave, he’s going to snort a line, I know it’. He had no way of knowing that, but now that the constant nose rubbing and sniffing was attached to a reason, it was all he thought about. And he wanted to speak, but he just didn’t know what to say. ‘I know what I’m doing’, Duo had said.</p><p class="p3">“Let me know if you find anything good on the imports,” was all he said as he walked away.</p><p class="p3">“Will do.”</p><p class="p3">The door closed and the light disappeared, leaving Wufei in the dark, but he navigated his way down to the pavement easily and found his motorcycle. He started it up and drove home, enjoying the wind on his face, warm and cool at the same time. He parked in his usual spot in the parking garage attached to his apartment building, and used the elevator to go up to his floor. Upon opening his front door, the little rabbit rushed him, hopping into the hall and reaching up her paws to his legs. He cooed at her and knelt down to pet her. He picked her up and took her back into the apartment, apologizing quietly in Mandarin that he had been gone so long. She got extra raspberry treats that night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>PLEASE READ BEFORE THE STORY!<br/>I'm looking for true constructive criticism here. I know it's a pain in the ass, and if it's not your thing then continue onward, but even spelling errors I'm interested in. I'm trying to work on story-telling, voice and style, and I'll even take your flames if that's what you really wanna dish out for out-of-character personalities or inaccuracies of military know-how or languages, whatever. Please. It would make me very happy and be a learning experience for everyone. Is it moving too fast? Is it confusing to know who's talking? Literally anything. If you prefer to privately give your feedback, you could email me at wheynetc@gmail.com<br/>Please and thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Wufei sighed and ran a hand over his hair, dropping his head down so he wouldn’t have to look at his computer screen anymore. The list of exports seemed to go on forever despite the country the goods left from was so small. That in itself made Wufei wonder about the legitimacy of the products and work and who was buying them, but those details would have to be worked out separately through even more scrutiny. He glanced at his watch and thought even though he wasn’t very hungry, he should get up anyway and eat something. Anything for an excuse to get out of his office for a while.</p>
<p class="p1">As usual the cafeteria was bustling with activity. Everyone tried to stay away from work as long as they could in here. Wandering down the line, Wufei inspected the choices and he was disappointed. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t that hungry. The salad bar was the go-to when he wasn’t hungry, and today would be no different. He loaded a small round plate with lettuce and dandelion leaves, carrot slices and a couple cherry tomatoes. A nice big spoonful of sunflower seeds and croutons. Some kind of Italian or vinaigrette dressing. He didn’t know what— nothing was labeled.</p>
<p class="p1">He didn’t find an empty table to take for himself, but the tables weren’t that full anyway, so he situated himself at the end of a table where the other few occupants sat clustered on the other end. They paid him no mind. He ate slowly, in no kind of rush to neither eat nor get back to his office just like everyone else, and he watched his ‘coworkers’ of sorts go about their business, talking and stuffing their mouths. His view of a frizzy red-head in a tank-top and rolled down coveralls, tanned and muscled skin was suddenly blocked, and he looked up to Quatre’s somber but hopeful face on the other side of the table.</p>
<p class="p1">“May I sit with you?” He asked quietly.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sighed near silently in the noise of the cafeteria and poked his fork a bit roughly through a thick piece of lettuce. “Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre sat down. They sat with no words between them for a full minute.</p>
<p class="p1">“Did you have something you want to say, Winner?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I wanted to say that you’re right—he could have an accident, and he’ll die, and I…Well I’ll be guilty. I’ll have killed him.”</p>
<p class="p1">The talking at the end of the table had stopped and the other table guests watched Wufei and Quatre with restrained curiosity on their faces. Wufei stared them down and they stammered back into their own conversation again.</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre sighed and folded his hands on the table. “I don’t really know what to do about it. I can’t force him to do anything.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes you can, you’re just weak.”</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre pursed his lips at the judgement.</p>
<p class="p1">“How long has this been going on?” Wufei tried to line up the timeframes in his mind. It had only been five years since the war ended. Wufei’s life hadn’t hardly changed at all throughout that time, working for the Preventer’s since the get-go, but it seemed like Duo’s life was a whirlwind of new homes and friends and addictions in that short time. From the war, to Hilde and the junkyard, Trowa’s circus and sobering up, and somewhere in there was his and Heero’s relationship and subsequent falling out. Now a potentially dangerous cocaine problem.</p>
<p class="p1">“Since he and Heero broke up.”</p>
<p class="p1">And there it was, brought up perfectly by Quatre to make it look like Wufei wasn’t invested in discovering this little bit of info. “What happened to them?”</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know.”</p>
<p class="p1">That was a surprise. Quatre was the mother hen of the five of them- he tended to know all the secrets, whether he was told them explicitly or his emotional intuition was enough of a tell. Maybe Trowa knew. At least if he asked Trowa he wouldn’t be judged as a gossip.</p>
<p class="p1">“You go to nightclubs with him, let him do cocaine, but you don’t know?”</p>
<p class="p1">“He never talks about him now. He doesn’t want to. But when Heero’s name gets brought up he feels so...lost. I feel a lot of loss and abandonment from him. And rage.”</p>
<p class="p1">Abandonment. Wufei wondered how Quatre could take the emotions he felt from others and put such precise words on them. Quatre’s choice of words didn’t really reveal the situation though, and maybe that’s why he still didn’t know or didn’t even guess at the reasons why the two broke up. The dissolution of a relationship tended to have those feelings. It wasn’t unusual.</p>
<p class="p1">“Heero isn’t forthcoming with an answer either.” Wufei admitted.</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre looked surprised. “You talk to Heero?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Rarely.” Never thought he’d be lying to Quatre about something so simple. Not that his conversations with Heero were illegal. Not technically. But it was a disruption of the chain of command. And normally the head of securities for the Queen wouldn’t come to Preventers for scraps—Une would keep him appraised of any legitimate issues.</p>
<p class="p1">“Wufei!” Came a call from across the cafeteria. Wufei and Quatre looked up to find Duo bounding across the large room, darting around the other Preventers who took their trays of food to tables. One arm was up, waving a sheet of paper around as he ran closer, grinning like a madman. “Wufei, look at this shit!” He slid onto the bench between Wufei and the other table-mates and slapped the paper down.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei stuffed another mouthful of salad in his mouth. “What is it?”</p>
<p class="p1">“This,” Duo tapped the paper with one finger, “is what you’ve been looking for.”</p>
<p class="p1">“The chemicals?” Wufei’s interest was piqued again.</p>
<p class="p1">“For what?” Quatre inquired.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo winked at him. “Sorry, Cat—confidential.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was reading the paper off to his side, crunching on the lettuce. Quatre nodded knowingly. “Alright then that’s my cue to get back to work. I’ll leave you to your secrets.” He got up with a small and somehow pleased smile and left the two together. Duo focused back onto Wufei.</p>
<p class="p1">“I did the math on these shipments, and it’s a damn sight more than this country needs ever!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Okay…?”</p>
<p class="p1">“We gotta be in your office or something if you want the deets. It’s big.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei did notice that the few people on the other end of the table were glancing in their direction just as they had before, clearly listening in on Duo’s enthusiasm. When he looked at Duo himself, he noticed Duo’s largely dilated eyes again. He must’ve squinted at him because Duo snapped up the paper and stood, getting ready to walk away.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah, I did a couple lines before work this morning. No, I don’t want to hear your opinion on it. Can’t focus on this boring shit without it.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei scoffed and cleared out his plate of salad, stuffing as much in his mouth as he could before dumping the rest off in the trash and stacking his tray. He followed after Duo who bounced every other step, clearly excited about his discovery. They walked quickly side by side to Wufei’s office and as soon as the door shut behind them, Duo flung himself into the visitors chair facing the front of the desk. He flipped the paper at Wufei when he sat in the leather seat. Wufei scrutinized the list.</p>
<p class="p1">“Some of the other shit is on there because I was still looking through it, but do you see this?” He stretched over the desk and pointed to a line near the top.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei read it. “Sodium cyanide.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo clicked his tongue. “You’re getting so good with your words. Sodium cyanide is a chem used in gold mining—it literally dissolves gold and then another process will collect the gold to separate it from the mush of dirt and shit.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Sierra Leone does a lot of gold mining,” Wufei conceded.</p>
<p class="p1">“Not like this, man. If you check out all the shipments of the cyanide and add them up, it’s a total of almost three tonnes. They’d never use that much in thirty years or more!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Alright, then what are they using so much of it for?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oooh that’s where it get’s fun.” Duo jumped up from his seat and paced around the room. Wufei scanned through the paper quickly and fished a pen from a cup on the desk. He ticked off the occurrences of the chemical. “You’ll also notice a crap-ton of chlorine shipments. I looked into the past ten years of chlorine imports this morning, and the last year has them bringing in almost four times their usual stock.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei stopped ticking off the list. “Chlorine is used as a water cleaner— it kills microbes. It’s used everywhere, even we chlorinate our water systems. Leone is still a developing country, high poverty rates. It makes sense they’d need a lot.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re right. Totally.” He stopped pacing around the desk at Wufei’s side. “But with the amount they’ve bought, they have an excess for the next five years if they use it as normal.” He grinned down at Wufei. “Wanna know what sodium cyanide and chlorine put together makes? Cyanogen Chloride.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s eyes widened and he looked at the paper again, noting the multiple shipments of Chlorine and their sizes. “CK?”</p>
<p class="p1">“CK, baby. There’s your weapon.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei slumped back in his seat, rubbing a finger under his bottom lip in thought. “Why would Leone make a weapon like this? They wouldn’t have a chance to use it on another country without us noticing them first. Their military is too small.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Who says it’s for them? I’d bet you money they’re making it for someone else. No one would suspect them.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo was right, Wufei thought, because no one suspects a country like Sierra Leone to manufacture a serious chemical weapon like CK, of course they’d be a good pick to have it done and ship it to the people who <b>would</b> have a use for it.This was why Une’s informant picked up on something and made them aware of it. Something fishy was going on.</p>
<p class="p1">“Then who is it for? Where are they sending it?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo flopped back into his chair. “Well they’re not gonna be shipping it out through legit sources, claiming it on exports. That defeats the purpose. Cyanogen Chloride is on Schedule 3 for the CWC—wherever that shit moves and is listed, the CWC knows. And if the stuff is being moved underground, there’s not going to be a paper trail to it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“But there’d be a trail from the source!” Wufei whipped open his laptop and moved the list close to it.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo grinned, pleased that Wufei was so excited about the chase. “We’ll have to trace all the companies that shipped the original ingredient, the cyanide, and work backwards. Dude, let me get my computer; we’ll run through the list together!” He jumped up and ran out the door, leaving Wufei in silence.</p>
<p class="p1">He enjoyed the silence for a moment, until the looming thought of finding the weapons came over him. Maybe Une should have given this assignment to Duo: he thought he’d never have figured it out without him. With that thought, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to the Commander herself:</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Movement on the Leone case.</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Will brief when I know more.</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p4"> </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Maxwell is in the loop.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p5"> </p>
<p class="p1">He sent the second message almost as an afterthought, but he thought it might make Une feel better about whatever she thought was going on with Duo if she knew he was working on the assignment with him. She didn’t need to know about his drug use just yet, he believed. He didn’t expect a message back from Une, and he didn’t receive one. Just as long as she was aware of the developments.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo ran back in with his laptop under one arm and a styrofoam cup in each hand. He set one beside Wufei’s hand. Coffee. He sat in his visitors chair and set his computer in his lap, opening it and taking a tiny sip of the steaming drink.</p>
<p class="p1">“How’d you get these that quick?” There was a machine nearby in the main cubicle’s kitchenette, but Duo would have had to run down to his lab, get his laptop, run back up and get the cups and coffee which was apparently freshly made.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m on coke: I’m lightning fast.” He moved his cursor around on his computer and clicked a few times.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei frowned. “I don’t like it when you say it like that.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What do you want me to say?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Not that you’re on coke.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo shrugged. “Facts are facts. You know I don’t lie. Alright, have you looked anyone up yet?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sighed, apparently the cocaine discussion dropped as quickly as it was brought up. “None.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Then I’ll take the…” He scanned down the copy of the list on his computer, “-first ten, not including multiples. You work the next ten and we’ll see how it goes.”</p>
<p class="p1">And they got to work. Every company listed to sell the sodium cyanide to Sierra Leone was looked through. Business licenses, company CEO’s, previous business deals, corporate and manufacturing locations. Duo asked if it was okay to put music on while they worked, and Wufei obliged him, fearing he was going to be subjected to something that would make his ears bleed, but was surprised with the same kind of calming, nostalgic music he’d heard while at Duo’s apartment for dinner. He watched Duo only for a second, his eyes illuminated almost purple from the computer screen darting back and forth, devouring information. He was thoroughly focused. The process of searching through all the companies was tedious, but Wufei was glad he had Duo here to work through it with him, taking on half the work that would have otherwise made Wufei want to flip his desk upside down. A few hours had passed, Wufei had taken a break for a few minutes to get snacks from a vending machine for them, but late in the afternoon they sighed and leaned back in their chairs, defeated.</p>
<p class="p1">“Not a single fucking thing.” Duo griped.</p>
<p class="p1">“If these are all dummy corporations, I’d wonder if it was the same person behind them all. It’s too suspicious.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah whoever wants that fucking CK is setting it up so they can do it all under the radar. He thinks he’s never gonna get caught because the paper trail leads to a name with no body. There’s no one to blame.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Now what?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Now…we have to see the product personally. The goods will have some kind of identifier, even if they were black market. It would give us some kind of clue to jump off of.”</p>
<p class="p1">“An op?!” Duo straightened up with a hopeful smile.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh fuck, let me do it, please!”</p>
<p class="p1">“In your condition? I don’t think—“</p>
<p class="p1">“Nope, Imma stop you right there. I’m your best bet for covert infiltration. I have more experience than any of these dorks you could take out there, and I’m already in the loop: I know what we’re looking for. No need to bring in any more outsiders. Come on, man. Please?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei considered Duo’s pleading face, knowing the moment he said there should be an operation that Duo would jump for the opportunity to go himself. And he knew that Duo was right. But what would the Commander say?</p>
<p class="p1">“Une has the final say in who goes in on something like this. She’ll have to approve the team. She may not want you on the team to infiltrate—your role in operations is communications and technology.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah, but she knows my history!”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei raised his hands to stop him. “I know that, Duo. When I brief her, I’ll make the case for you. I’ll try.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You will? Really? Not just blowing smoke up my ass?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei closed his eyes against the image and shook his head. “Truly, I will.” He stood and closed his laptop, taking the paper Duo had given him and stuffing it in the Sierra Leone case folder.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re the fucking best, man. I’ll buy all your blowjobs at the next club.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei blew out a heavy sigh at that, and wished he had never been so drunk as to make that innuendo to an equally drunk and high Duo.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Lady Une set the papers down on the conference table and looked at Wufei across from her. “You’re serious—CK?”</p>
<p class="p1">“It looks that way.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Jesus.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Commander, I request we drop in on their facilities, whichever is receiving the goods, or making the end-product. The only course now is to find the source of the cyanide, which we can only do in person. The companies who sold the cyanide to Leone are fronts.”</p>
<p class="p1">The commander crossed one bare leg over the other under the table, resting her elbow on the armrest. She hummed. “So what do you suggest?”</p>
<p class="p1">“A small team—Sierra Leone is a small country, and we would draw suspicion with multiple foreigners bumbling around their facilities.” Wufei set his arms on the long table and laced his fingers together. “Ideally, as small as possible. Two men.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Two men.” She repeated. “A two man team for an enemy-territory chemical-weapons-threat op?” She stared at the man and then her eyebrows dropped from their high point of disbelief. “You want to bring Maxwell.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes. He’s the ideal pick for the job. You know his history on the streets, stealth operations are his forte—”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hacking is his forte. Stealth yes, but infiltration? That’s Barton’s skill. The bastard.” Une was no doubt thinking back to when she hired Trowa herself into OZ, impressed by his attention to detail and competency, and completely unaware at the time of his actual work as a Gundam pilot. She hated that he got to her like that. Sometimes Trowa would leave a copy of his old OZ “application” on her desk and wait outside her door to hear her rip it up or curse about him. Wufei witnessed him do that one day, and also watched him smile and chuckle about it. He thought the ex-pilot’s sense of humor was strange.</p>
<p class="p1">“Duo blends in easily, makes friends and puts people at ease. He’s just as good at getting into places he doesn’t belong as Barton is, he just does it a different way. If we did Barton’s method we’d have to ingratiate ourselves with the employees, and along with everything else involved we’re looking at months of work to hopefully get a glimpse of the goods. With Duo, he sneaks in, gets the info, and sneaks out. One night of work, maybe a couple weeks of prep.” He never thought he’d push so hard for Duo to work with him.</p>
<p class="p1">The commander squinted at him slightly, tapping her fingers on the armrest. “I’ll take the night to consider it. If not, I’ll have my choice of teammate informed.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Thank you, ma’am.”</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Later that night, Wufei lie on his burgundy couch in the living room, lights off in the apartment, letting the ambient light of the lamps down below in the complex’s private park reflect off his ceiling. He scrolled around on his phone, looking for a new book to buy. Taoshu sat on his chest and nuzzled against his fingers as he pet her. Occasionally he would pick up a treat from the coffee table and feed it to her. He allowed himself a quiet night, no work, no planning or making mental lists of what he should be doing at work the next day. He laid around in loose pants and shirt, large windows open to feel the cool night’s breeze. Living on the inner side of the complex was nice because his view, other than the apartments across from him, was the private park down below. A small gated park that had no grass, it was mostly concrete and stone, but was decorated with a central pond and mini river. Some plants and bushes surrounding it, koi swimming back and forth. It was peaceful down there. If you lived on the outer side of the complex you were subjected to the noise of the city streets if you opened your windows.</p>
<p class="p1">His phone buzzed gently in his hand and the notification of a message appeared. He tapped it. It was Une.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p6">
    <em>Maxwell will work. I want your plan </em>
  </p>
  <p class="p6">
    <em> of action on my desk within a week. </em>
  </p>
  <p class="p6">
    <em> We need to move on this.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p5"> </p>
<p class="p1">Perfect. Duo would be glad to hear it. Wufei tapped on his phone, finger hovering over Duo’s number, and then he looked at the time. Midnight. He wondered if Duo was awake. Or if he was even home if he was awake. He tapped the number and put the phone to his ear, barely listening to the ring.</p>
<p class="p1"><em>“Hello?” </em>Duo’s voice came over the speaker quietly.</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s Chang.”</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Yeah, I know. What’s up?”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">“Une just appointed you to the team.”</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Oh good, man. That’s uh…that’s good. Nice.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s fingers stilled from scrubbing Taoshu’s fur. The voice was too calm. Too low. “Are you alright?”</p>
<p class="p1">Air rushed over the receiver and sounded like static in Wufei’s ear. <em>“I’m okay, just tired.”</em></p>
<p class="p1">“Ah, I’m sorry I woke you. I shouldn’t have called so late.” Wufei’s face heated up, a little guilty.</p>
<p class="p1"><em>“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t sleeping.”</em> Duo’s voice was gravelly, shaky. <em>“Just…not having a good night.”</em></p>
<p class="p1">“Oh.”</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Listen I’ll call you back in a minute and I’ll be fine.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">“No don’t hang up,” Wufei said quickly. All he could think of was a thin line of white powder waiting for Duo on his kitchen counter. Or wherever he did it. He floundered for more to say. Duo waited silently on the other end. “Video me.”</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>"...okay.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">The line went dead and Wufei let his arm fall to his side. ‘Video me’? Why had he said that of all things? He gently pulled the rabbit off his chest and put her on the floor, and got up to get his laptop off the dining counter. He set it on the coffee table and waited for the ring, turning on the lamp by the couch. When the ring came he picked it up immediately. The feed that popped up showed a dark room, and an even darker figure of Duo sitting on his bed, lit only along all his edges by the street lamps outside. Even in this low light he looked tired. He sat with one knee up, the other leg folded in front of him. A can hung loosely in one hand over his knee.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey,” he said bluntly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey,” Wufei replied softly. Focusing on what was in his hand, Wufei could just make out the color and type on the can. Asahi. “You’ve been drinking.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Am I not allowed to drink now?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m just noting it. Usually you drink at a party. Not alone in the dark at midnight.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah well...” he took a drink from the can of beer, “the occasion was fitting.”</p>
<p class="p1">An incident. “What happened?” Wufei asked. He tried to keep his tone gentle and quiet. If Duo needed a friend to sit quiet, listen, and not judge him, Wufei thought he could do that for him at least tonight.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo scoffed, shook his head. “You see the Queen on TV today?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah she fucking...got up on stage, doing some press conference thing and she starts talking about L2. How long they’ve been around and ‘pushed forward the limits of space life and commerce’-“ he made sure to do air quotes around those words. “But uh...” he took a deep breath and released it shakily. “She’s retiring the whole cluster.”</p>
<p class="p1">Retiring them. Wufei processed what he thought he was about to hear from the other side of the screen, letting Duo take a moment. In the minimal light he could see Duo’s shoulders shake and watched him rub his eyes with the heel of his hand. He sniffed wetly. Then he leaned his head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. A streak of a tear shined brightly in the light against his cheek.</p>
<p class="p1">“They’re gonna take apart my colony. Just fucking...destroy my home. I grew up there. The graves of all my friends are there. My church—it’s just gonna be gone. And they don’t care. It’s just an old piece-of-shit hunk of metal in space and that...fucking bitch wants it gone.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sighed silently, adjusting how he sat on the couch. “Duo…I’m sorry. I know how it feels to lose your home and everything you love.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Fuck,” Duo sniffed and looked back at the camera and screen. “That’s right—your colony…They self-destructed.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei wondered if Duo was asking so he could be distracted, but it wasn’t a long story anyway. Maybe he was looking for some kind of advice on how to deal with this coming loss. The colony cluster wasn’t dismantled yet if they just announced the retirement on broadcast, but for Duo it might as well be because they didn’t really step off-world anymore to visit the colonies. Only Trowa and Quatre had anywhere to go up there now.</p>
<p class="p1">“We were invaded by mobile suits. Master Long wouldn’t allow us to be kowtowed to the enemy—if we were going to die, we’d do it ourselves and preserve our pride and honor. Never let your enemy take from you.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Like your hair.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei chuckled and ran a hand over his head at the mention of it. He pulled the hair tie out as his hand dropped and let it fall just over his shoulders. Sometimes he thought he tied it too tight—like his hair would rip out and he’d be bald before he was thirty. It felt good to relax it.</p>
<p class="p1">When he thought about the fate of his colony, sometimes he was angry about it. Angry at Master Long for choosing that path which lead to the deaths of all the inhabitants of A0200, angry they didn’t fight. He understood why for the most part. The colony was old and the people were growing too numerous. It couldn’t support them for much longer. The displacement of everyone to the surrounding colonies of L5 wouldn’t be feasible, and it would lead to the same issues they had been facing already. The people who lived there had lived there their entire lives, never visiting Earth because it didn’t want them. They had been exiled to L5 for their strength and tenacity, their willingness to fight and strive for justice, balance. It was too traditional, too passé, and too brutal for the changing lives of humans. That was over a hundred years ago. Now the sole heir to the Long clan, Wufei knew it would die with him, and no one knew nor cared.</p>
<p class="p1">“Did she say why L2 is being retired?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo blinked out of his stupor, Wufei noticed he was watching him carefully, probably doing his best to remember the image of Wufei with his hair down because he’d likely never see it again. He shook his head. “If she said it, I didn’t hear it. I couldn’t even think after she said that. I’ve never wanted to slap the shit out of someone so bad in my fucking life. Think I’d get arrested for smacking the Queen?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei snickered. “If Heero didn’t shoot you first.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s mouth snapped shut. He looked over at his glass doors in the lamplight and ground his teeth before taking another drink of his beer. “Yeah.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wrong thing to say, Wufei realized too late. “Duo,” Wufei stopped and thought, needing to choose his next words carefully. Tonight, under the circumstances, he would not ask about the breakup.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo turned to the screen again in the silence, watching Wufei’s lips close and purse for a moment.</p>
<p class="p1">“The pain may never subside, but in the future you will be able to make sense of it. You’ll be able to acknowledge it, feel it, without it killing you every time.” Wufei didn’t know if he was talking about Duo’s and Heero’s failed relationship or about the immanent destruction of Duo’s childhood home, but after saying it he felt almost foolish. Duo had endured more hardship than probably any of them, baring Trowa. They just had different circumstances. Duo would know how to get through his grief. Hopefully with less dependence on his new favorite drug.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo nodded slowly. “…Yeah.” He reached forward and swiped on his laptop and then sat back. “Hey, I know it’s late but…do you wanna watch a movie with me? We didn’t get to when you came over last time.”</p>
<p class="p1">He was right, it was late, technically early in the morning, but Wufei knew that when he first called. He’d need a lot of coffee in the morning to be able to function for work. “Sure.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s smile wasn’t as wide as his usual smile was, it was tired and sad at the same time it was happy. “Alright, see you soon.” He reached out and ended the video call.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei shut his laptop and looked down at Taoshu on the floor who slept overtop his naked foot. So much coffee, he thought. But Duo needed this he believed. He needed a friend right now, even if it was to sit and watch a terrible old film at one in the morning. Wufei dressed quickly and kissed the cream colored bunny goodbye before heading out to his bike.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">When he arrived at Duo’s apartment, he was concerned to find the front door wide open, and he froze in place along the walkway as he realized it. Glancing around the area at the parking lot and up and down the walkway of the apartments, he cautiously stepped along the wall at a measured pace. At the door frame he stopped and listened, but heard nothing.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m here.” Duo said gently through the apartment.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei blew out his held breath and felt his muscles relax. He stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind him. “Why is the front door open?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo was pulling the covers of his bed up and tucking them under his pillows. He had changed into looser clothes, Wufei assumed they were his pajamas—a blue-grey linen T-shirt and harem pants with a lot of spirals on them. Interesting sleepwear that Wufei hadn’t expected. But how do you assess what a person wears to bed? Wufei slept in his shorts only, and he thought it was a perfect choice apart from sleeping naked. On one occasion when his apartment was broken into during the night, Wufei had jumped down the stairs swinging his sword in nothing but his underwear. The would-be thief promptly turned tail and ran right out the door. Wufei remembered that night fondly and was embarrassed of himself at the same time.</p>
<p class="p1">“To let you in while I cleaned up.” Obviously.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei toed off his boots. “I don’t think you live in a safe enough neighborhood to leave your door open.” Although, when he thought about it, no one should have been able to break into his own place. He later discovered that the burglar was the grandson of one of the tenants and considered himself some kind of gangster.</p>
<p class="p1">“I don’t think you know how poor neighborhoods work. There ain’t shit to steal in here.”</p>
<p class="p1">The only space available to sit, apart from the patio dining table, was on the bed, so Wufei settled himself there on the edge of it. Duo was sounding better than he had before, still low in tone and less ‘dude’s and ‘man’s, but he didn’t sound like he’d been crying all night finally. He was pulling a decently-sized flat-screen TV off the wall where it could extend out on an arm, and then he came to the bed and climbed onto it.He clambered down just as quickly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Shit, forgot my beer. Want one?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No, thank you.”</p>
<p class="p1">He pulled a fresh can from the fridge and took his seat back. He took his phone out from under a pillow and scrolled, searching for a movie. When he found what he wanted, he tapped and the TV flickered to life, playing the movie automatically. Duo settled in, pushing his pillows around to get comfortable, and Wufei followed suit. His scooted to the head and propped up one of the many large pillows to lean back on, crossing his legs in front of him. The bed itself was fairly small, just a regular size, so the two sat close but Wufei made sure not to touch him. The lights were already off, and the blinds to the patio doors were shut to block out the street lamps below them, so they were bathed only in the blue-white light of the TV screen. Duo took long gulps from his drink, intent on finishing it quickly.</p>
<p class="p1">It was an odd choice of film, Wufei thought. A romance of sorts and a drama about a suburban father in a mid-life crisis, a frustrated wife looking for a challenging but equal partner, and a teenage daughter who found love with a quiet and strange weed-dealer. Sex, intrigue, good music, and dreams for peace and excitement in one’s life that was once thought unreachable. Until you just took it. And why not? Wufei thought Duo must relate heavily to the films characters and themes, though he wouldn’t know how deeply unless he truly knew the man.</p>
<p class="p1">Again in Duo’s presence Wufei allowed himself to relax and let any reservedness he usually held in public slide and let the movie reel him in. Duo must have seen this one a few times before though, because he stayed fairly quiet throughout. He chuckled at the right places. At the end, the husband had been shot and killed, the wife felt great shame and remorse for her actions and intentions, and the daughter agreed to run away to a new city and new life with her odd boyfriend. But the husband, the protagonist of the story, seemed not totally upset by the fact he was murdered— he looked back on his life with joy at all the little moments people took for granted in their day to day life. The credits rolled and Wufei read through them. He liked to give this acknowledgement to the people who worked behind the cameras whenever he did watch a film. The credit screen was long and dark and through the middle of it, Wufei felt a gentle weight against his arm. He knew it was Duo, and for some reason he didn’t dare look, but he chanced looking down in the corner of his eye and saw Duo’s hand, limp by Wufei’s thigh, with empty beer can resting in it. He felt relieved enough to actually look over and see the top of Duo’s head, face rested against Wufei’s shoulder and asleep. The credits rolled to the end and the movie stopped, making the room go black. Wufei leaned his head back on the wall for a second, debating his options, but he didn’t feel like getting up and going home just yet. If he got up now, Duo would wake up and they’d say some kind of awkward goodbye. So he leaned on Duo, moving him just enough to fish for his phone found sticking out under his thigh. He scrolled through the database of movies, not really interested in their titles, and found the search bar. He typed in the name to a movie he did know and found it, hitting play. The movie began and Wufei set the phone down and leaned back again, but the movement, pushing Duo away and back again only caused him to face-plant Wufei’s lap. Wufei held his breath and waited for Duo to wake up. Awkwardly make a blowjob joke, something. But he didn’t and now Wufei was conflicted on where to even rest his arm. He settled with a hand on Duo’s back, just because everything else was too weird. He didn’t even know why it felt weird. Just a hand on a friend’s back, no funny business. But he couldn’t help feeling a strange mixture of shy shame. His heartbeat was even sped up when he realized that as he watched the movie his thumb rubbed over the back of Duo’s shirt. He tried to focus on the film. It was a quiet one with strange, calm music. The main character, a man separated from his soon-to-be ex-wife, falls in love with an artificial intelligence who is his computerized secretary-turned-friend. The phenomenon isn’t totally uncommon within the universe of the movie, though people do still take time to get used to it. Wufei knows it well enough that he focuses on the music this time, and slowly it puts him to sleep.</p>
<p class="p1">When he wakes, Wufei notices of course the the movie is over, and along the edges of the blinds there is the faintest light fading in. He checked his watch—five-thirty. He’d be getting up in an hour and a half if he were at home. He didn’t know when Duo actually got up for work. Duo’s work schedule probably wasn’t very strict. Like Une could hold him to something as “trivial” as in-times. Now Wufei could probably leave in peace, though. He rubbed his eyes and gently edged his legs out from under Duo’s head. He took the empty can from Duo’s limp fingers and set it on the bed-side table. His walk was silent across the linoleum over to his boots, but Duo’s voice whispered softly across the room.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey, ‘Fei.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei continued to shove his feet in his shoes, lacing them up. “I’m here.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Are you leaving?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes. It’s early, I’m going to work.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo stretched and yawned on the bed, but he remained lying down, eyes closed. His long braid trailed down over the side where Wufei had left. It reminded him that his own hair was still down, and he started gathering it up into his usual tail. He didn’t know if it was perfectly smooth though. Then he grabbed his keys off the counter.</p>
<p class="p1">“Take the day off,” he suggested. “I’ll talk to the commander.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sleepily snickered. “She’ll think I’m a pussy.”</p>
<p class="p1">“She’ll understand.”</p>
<p class="p1">“…Thanks for staying with me.”</p>
<p class="p1">“It wasn’t a problem. Get some rest.” Wufei opened the front door and locked the handle. Even if Duo thought he was safe in his neighborhood, Wufei could still make sure he would sleep in a semi-secure room.</p>
<p class="p1">“Okay,” He whispered.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Wufei didn’t go immediately into his office. It was too early to be stuck in there for an extra couple hours of his day. He parked his motorcycle and stood beside it, swinging his keys on one finger. He looked up at the Preventers headquarters building and knew he just didn’t feel like working today. He would, but he wouldn’t get any satisfaction out of it.</p>
<p class="p1">A rumbling engine came up from behind, and a small sleek car slowly pulled into the spot next to him. Its gold paint shimmered in the early morning sun, and over the car’s curves the color faded into a deep copper. It’s shadowed sides were purple. Not a hugely loud car, but enough to insinuate that this was a racing vehicle. The body trim and spoiler on the trunk made it more obvious. The engine was killed and the driver’s door opened smoothly. Trowa stood up from it and took his round sunglasses off, hooking them on the front of his shirt. Wufei tried to not let his astonishment show on his face. Trowa shut the car door and tucked his keys into his work coat. The car beeped as it was locked.</p>
<p class="p1">“This is your car?” He’d never seen Trowa drive it before, but he’d certainly seen it in the parking lot every day. He realized he didn’t know too much about Trowa’s life since the war ended, and this was the last thing he expected. Though he couldn’t really think of him in any car. Maybe a dirt bike. He thought he’d seen him on one of those before.</p>
<p class="p1">“It is.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Your normal, daily use car.”</p>
<p class="p1">“It is. Like it?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sputtered and then just decided- “I do. I…didn’t expect you in that.”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa’s head bobbed once. “Pretty car go fast.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei wanted to punch him.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re early.” He said as he gently leaned against the small car. He was twice its size in height. Wufei wondered how Trowa even fit into it.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, I was close by: I slept-“ the words were coming out of Wufei’s mouth before he could censor himself. He cringed inside even as he said it: “-at Duo’s place.” He couldn’t hide that he didn’t want to say that either, closing his eyes against his own embarrassment. He sighed.</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa just hummed.</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s not what you think it is.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I didn’t say it was anything.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was beginning to understand this strange urge to strangle or curse Trowa that everyone else seemed to feel. He was observant, silent, until he wasn’t, and both his silence and words held this sneaking self-satisfaction— some sick humor that revealed all your inner thoughts. Trowa, Wufei believed completely, was the wild card of the group. Not Duo. No one knew who Trowa was, because he was everything and then nobody at the same time. Wufei enjoyed Trowa’s company though. They were able to share comfortable silence.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m going to the gym,” Wufei finally said after some silence. “That’s why I came early.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m here for that as well, may I join you?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Please.” The two walked together towards the main building. “I want to ask you some questions.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Ask away.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You helped Duo with his addiction.”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa opened the front door and allowed Wufei to enter first. “That’s not a question.”</p>
<p class="p1">“How did you do it?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I didn’t let him have any.” As though it were so simple. “He looked up the location of the next set of shows and showed up. He said he needed to be kept busy.”</p>
<p class="p1">“So you put him to work.”</p>
<p class="p1">“There’s a lot of work to be done around the Big Tent. And we didn’t even have to pay him.”</p>
<p class="p1">They had to scan a barcode on a card to be let into the gym, and made their way to the locker room. The air was stale from sweat and slightly warm. Trowa and Wufei’s lockers were separated by another wall of lockers, but without other coworkers it was silent and they could talk, voices echoing off the metal.</p>
<p class="p1">“I didn’t have any speed with me, I didn’t let him leave the circus perimeter for any reason, and worked him to exhaustion every day.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was at a loss. He opened his locker and retrieved the clothes inside, setting them on the bench, and proceeded to undress. “It can’t be that simple. Did he have no withdrawal symptoms? He never tried to sneak away in the night?”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa’s voice came over the room. “He had withdrawals—his body and mind were severely addicted, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why is that?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Methamphetamines have their uses. A lot of soldiers I stayed with used them. Keeps you going when your body wants to drop dead.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had trouble imagining a pre-teenager Trowa, let alone him being a welcome member of mercenary groups who were known for their merciless dealings. He slipped his feet into the legs of a pair of white athletic pants, pulling them to his hips. They resembled his more traditional Chinese clothes he wore most of the time during the war, and he chose them for that nostalgia. More modern though.</p>
<p class="p1">“And he never sneaked out.”</p>
<p class="p1">“He couldn’t—he slept with me.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei froze. “What?”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa appeared from around the wall of lockers, already dressed in his running shorts and shirt, breathable tennis shoes. He had the barest smirk on his lips. “You heard me.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei grumbled at himself for showing the shock that Trowa had intended to cause with his statement. He knew of course by Trowa’s reaction that the two didn’t really “sleep” together.</p>
<p class="p1">“He slept in my bed, with me, so he couldn’t leave without me knowing. He’s stealthy, but not in <b>my</b> trailer.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sighed, frustrated, and pulled his tank top over his head. He closed his locker and shoved his feet into his shoes. “I can’t wait for him to want to quit on his own.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why not?” Trowa’s question wasn’t snide, but genuine wonder at Wufei’s intention.</p>
<p class="p1">“Because it’s not right. He doesn’t need it and one day it will kill him.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Maybe he wants it to.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had stood up, ready to leave, but he stared at the taller man, eyebrows drawn together with concern. “How can you say that?”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa shrugged. “Some people use to kill the pain, and if it ends up killing themselves, then that’s a pain permanently destroyed. Why should they care?”</p>
<p class="p1">“What hurts Duo so badly?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Who, not what.” He motioned for Wufei to follow him out of the locker room, and Wufei hustled after him.</p>
<p class="p1">“Wait—” Wufei grabbed Trowa’s bare arm and held him back. “This is all over Heero? Why? What happened to them?” He looked hard into Trowa’s dark green eyes and begged silently for something. No jokes, no lies.</p>
<p class="p1">“They broke up,” Trowa said simply, without a hint of sarcasm.</p>
<p class="p1">“It can’t be that simple. Duo is snorting cocaine in nightclub bathrooms and getting groped by strangers on the dance floor—this isn’t <b>just </b>a breakup.”</p>
<p class="p1">Trowa sighed through his nose and crossed his arms when Wufei released him. “He never told me the details you’re looking for. But Heero left him for Relena.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was stunned. “Relena? They’re together?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I thought their relationship was obvious.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, during the war Relena seemed to be infatuated with him. But…” Wufei shook his head. “I don’t understand.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What’s confusing? Heero dumped his street-rat boyfriend to hang on a Queen’s arm. How do you think Duo feels about that?” Trowa had apparently decided the conversation was finished, leaving Wufei to gather himself and follow him out of the locker rooms. Wufei did follow, but slowly, processing and lining up information.</p>
<p class="p1">The pair didn’t work out together necessarily, but stayed near each other for most of the time. Wufei put himself through his paces, pushing himself to his limits. Lying on the floor he struggled for a full breath during his crunches, core straining and burning pain even up through his sides. His arms shook through pushups and sweat dripped down his forehead. He didn’t keep track of the sets or reps even while pushing up the weighty barbell on his shoulders during squats. He couldn’t keep the new information out of his mind.</p>
<p class="p1">Heero broke up with Duo to be with Relena? ‘We wanted different things.’ That’s what Heero had said to him when Wufei asked. There were immediate, obvious things that the two, Relena and Duo, offered a relationship different from the other. Relena was rich, Duo wasn’t. Duo was humorous and street-wise, Relena was not. Relena offered security, dependable scheduling, and a concrete home. Duo flew by the seat of his pants every day of the week.</p>
<p class="p1">Heero was a logical man, precise and decisive, even cold and calculating, but Wufei didn’t believe these were the traits used to make the decision to switch partners. It couldn’t be. Heero had once told Trowa to live by his emotions to ensure a life well lived. It was possible this really was a simple change of heart. People broke up all the time around the planet—realizing they loved someone else or just didn’t love the person they were with anymore. But surely Heero would have said something quite simple to make that point when Wufei asked. And Duo wouldn’t be coping with a pile of fine white powder. This was something else. There had to be something more.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was still pushing, huffing hard in a series of deadlifts and overhead presses. The gym was too warm and combined with the work he was putting in, the sweat was dripping down his face, beading up on his arms and shoulders, it was sliding down his back and sticking his shirt to him. But he couldn’t think. He <b>could</b> think, and surely was, but was doing nothing but chasing in circles with what to do about Duo, how to approach, how to convince. What could he possibly tell him? How could he show him he didn’t need it? Convince him Heero wasn’t worth all this, wasn’t worth his life, and that Wufei would stand by him through it, even if he had to sleep over every night and watch ancient movies and buy the takeout and be the only one to dance with him at—</p>
<p class="p1">“FUCK!” He threw down the barbell with his outburst and it clanged and thundered just as loudly as his voice upon hitting the ground. He panted and shook, staring down at the rubber mats that covered the gym floor. Nearby, Trowa had jumped at the sudden crashing and looked over at Wufei, noting his angered expression. Hadn’t seen that in a long time.</p>
<p class="p1">“You okay?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei took a second to bring himself out of his own thoughts, he licked his lips and tasted the salt of sweat. “Yeah,” he croaked. He turned away from the barbells and hurriedly started walking away. “I just—I have to go.”</p>
<p class="p1">He was reaching for his tank and pulling it over his head before even reaching the lockers, using it to wipe the sweat from his face. He yanked open his locker, threw the shirt inside and made a go for his pants, kicking off his shoes at the same time. Underwear too. All of it he balled up and shoved into the box and yanked out his personal towel, wrapping it around his hips before slamming the metal door shut. He stomped away to the showers and hung his towel on the rack there. The water would come out freezing cold from the shower head the moment he turned it on, but he wanted it now and stood right in the spray. He gasped after the splash hit him in the face and chest. The water warmed up quickly, but the cold zap had done its job and Wufei took a few steadying breaths, rubbing his face with his wet hands. He pulled the tie out of his hair and ducked under the spray again. His head was clearing, the anger dissipated, and he sighed and shook his head. The showers had dedicated soap and shampoo dispensers which Wufei took advantage of. He lathered the shampoo into his hair and rinsed it while getting the soap, washing down at an even pace. He focused on his actions, cleaned all surfaces of the collected sweat, almost entering a meditative state if he didn’t have to stop the water and exit the shower in decent time. He pulled the water from his hair, sending a small stream into the drains, and grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his hips again, but less roughly this time. He was slow walking back to his locker, almost dragging his feet, and when he finally made it he dropped himself onto the bench. He hunched over to rest his arms on his legs. Stared at his bare feet on the tiles. He forgot his shower shoes. He refused to call them flip-flops because he giggled every time he said it.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s thoughts darted everywhere, confused and frustrated. His head was clearer now, not surprised into anger like he had been before, but still he was— Was he spending too much time with Duo lately? He’d never seen so much of the man before, but here in just a weeks time he’d spent the night at his apartment twice, gone out dancing and drinking… And apart from his assignment handed down by Une, his thoughts were mostly consumed with Duo and his destructive addiction. He constantly asked about the reasons behind his and Heero’s broken relationship, when he knew it was entirely none of his business. And he certainly did not yell out things like “fuck” when he was highly emotional. Or ever. Drunkenness was a separate entity and he couldn’t be responsible for the things he said during that time. He chose to push this away for now though—he had to get dressed. While pulling out his street clothes again, he realized he had no fresh shorts. His choices were his sweaty ones from the workout, or commando. Commando. Wouldn’t be the first time. He dressed and toweled off his hair, doing his best to pull it back neatly but some strands still escaped him and hung around his ears and cheek. Again he let it be, refusing to fight and frustrate himself more. When he tidied up his locker and closed it, he walked through the main of the gym and gave Trowa a quick goodbye wave. Trowa acknowledged it.</p>
<p class="p1">A little more energized by the workout and refreshing shower, Wufei took the stairs to his department floor, hopping over every other step in quick succession. The offices were slowly filling, employees and agents arriving for their shift and collecting around the coffee pot with their empty, waiting mugs. He passed by them to the far end of the main workstations, and happened upon Lady Une just walking into her office with one arm burdened by a thick binder. He waited at her open door until she reached her desk.</p>
<p class="p1">“Commander, may I come in?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Of course.” She set the binder down and turned to him as he entered and looked him up and down in surprise. “Casual Friday again?” She said, referring to his street clothes. It was only blue jeans and a T-shirt, but his shirt was tucked in and he wore a belt, Wufei thought it was fairly work appropriate.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh, I-- Uh… it’s—,” Wufei floundered for an excuse that was something other than his first blunder with Trowa. He snapped his mouth shut before he shoved more of his foot in his mouth. “Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">Une chuckled at his apparent disorientation, but she said no more on it. She leaned her butt against the front of her desk and crossed her ankles. “What can I do for you?”</p>
<p class="p1">He remembered what he was here for. “Duo won’t be making it in today.”</p>
<p class="p1">“…Okay?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I know it’s not your job to look over schedules and in-times, but since we’re on the Leone assignment together and just started making plans for the op, I thought you should be aware.”</p>
<p class="p1">She nodded. “I see. Is he alright?”</p>
<p class="p1">“He’s taking a mental health day. Relena announced the retirement of the L2 colonies yesterday and he didn’t take it well. He grew up in one of them.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s…regrettable. Could he not call me himself?”</p>
<p class="p1">“He was drinking most of the night, and finally got to sleep early this morning—I told him I would do it.”</p>
<p class="p1">The commander’s head rose and fell in one slow nod. “Uh…huh.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s heart skipped a beat. He’d tipped her off to something. And he analyzed what he just said. It sounded like he spent the night at Duo’s apartment again. Exactly what he didn’t want to mention in the first place. How was he this good at not keeping information to himself today?</p>
<p class="p1">“Close the door, Chang.” She said quickly and precisely.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei did as he was told and blew out a breath as he turned back around to face her. ‘Stern’ was putting it lightly as to what her expression was.</p>
<p class="p1">“Are you sleeping with Maxwell?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s too quick an answer. You knew I was going to ask that.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m not sleeping with him.” Technically he had been, but that wasn’t what she meant.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yet it sounds like you were with him all night where he was apparently drunk and “not able to sleep” well into the morning. You’ve come here twice now in civilian clothes straight from his place. What do you think that says to me?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sighed in exasperation and waved a hand through the air, letting it fall and slap his thigh. “I know what it sounds like, woman—“</p>
<p class="p1">“And you’re trying to hide it. Badly.”</p>
<p class="p1">“—I <b>did</b> spend most of the night with him. I called to tell him about getting on the team, and he was clearly upset so we talked about it—the colonies—and I went to his apartment to try and—“</p>
<p class="p1">“Comfort him?” She interrupted again with a sneer. “You don’t strike me as the consoling type.”</p>
<p class="p1">Silence hung in the air for a moment while the two gathered their thoughts and next words. This was going to be a fight if she kept poking him like this.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei took a breath. “I went over around 0100 hours, and we only watched a movie. We fell asleep. That was it. I am spending more time with him, but we’re working on this case, soon to be on an op, and we were a team in the past when…” he chuckled at the thought. “When we were fighting you.”</p>
<p class="p1">She watched his eyes and hand movements closely.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m very slow at making friends and I’m only now starting to be real friends with Maxwell. Because of that, I’m discovering that he’s hurting, and I’m trying to do what friends do and be there for him.” He just hoped she didn’t ask for details on this “hurt.” Blabbering Wufei may do very well today, but he would not let it slip about Duo’s coke habit. The team would be broken, there would be no sting, and Duo would be either fired or put on probation. Wufei might be reprimanded and put on some probation as well for hiding it. When he thought of it like that, how dire that situation could be, he had a moment of clarity. Let them think whatever they wanted, whoever that was—be it Une or any other Preventer. Let them think they were sleeping together if that’s what they wanted to see, it gave Wufei the excuse to stay close to Duo as much as possible and get this issue sorted out. As long as he never actually did sleep with him, he would be in the green.</p>
<p class="p1">Une uncrossed her arms and her face relaxed. “Alright. I believe you. You are crap at making friends, I at least know that. I just needed to grill you myself now before the rumors start flying and I have to take some kind of disciplinary action. I’d rather not do that, even to Duo.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Thank you.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Now get to work on Leone,” she commanded, going around her desk to sit in her large leather chair. “Someone’s trying to start a fire every single day, and this CK business is too wild to sit by and watch what they plan to do with it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I will.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei left her office and started off to his own, but first he stopped by the kitchenette and waited at the end of the room for some fresh coffee. The other Preventers milling around tried not to be obvious with their glances and side-eyed looks, but they didn’t usually see Wufei in their kitchen, let alone in street clothes. He was the manager of most of them, a couple steps above them in rank but because there was a few someones in between them and him, he didn’t have to be directly in contact with them. He barely knew their names. But he was sure they knew about him. They all knew who among them were the Gundam pilots from the past wars, but what did that matter now? It had been five years since Wufei was inside Nataku. He was an office-worker now. Preventer yes, but under the thumb of para-military corporation. It took a lot of getting used to for them, baring Heero. He probably would have liked it here. Maybe.</p>
<p class="p1">When Wufei’s turn came up for the coffee, he got a disposable cup and filled it to the brim, but he didn’t mill around with his subordinates, he went to his office. There was work to be done. Sierra Leone’s stash of deadly chemical weapons couldn’t wait for him and Duo to get their own act together. He sat down and got to work, researching and making notes on what they would need for the infiltration, different routes they could take. Around midday when he stopped for lunch, he texted Duo to check how he was feeling. Duo’s reply was short, but the tone satisfied Wufei that he wasn’t as upset as he had been the night before.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>PLEASE READ BEFORE THE STORY!<br/>I'm looking for true constructive criticism here. I know it's a pain in the ass, and if it's not your thing then continue onward, but even spelling errors I'm interested in. I'm trying to work on story-telling, voice and style, and I'll even take your flames if that's what you really wanna dish out for out-of-character personalities or inaccuracies of military know-how or languages, whatever. Please. It would make me very happy and be a learning experience for everyone. Is it moving too fast? Is it confusing to know who's talking? Literally anything. If you prefer to privately give your feedback, you could email me at wheynetc@gmail.com<br/>Please and thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">“Mm, check this out,” Duo said around a bite of his burger. His legs were propped up on his patio table, computer resting on his lap and he swiped the cursor and clicked with one hand.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei sat in the other patio chair and sipped from a bottle of soda, his own laptop on the available space on the table. He didn’t look around to his companion. “Hm?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Nice hotel on the edge of the city, right next to the jungle. Not expensive, out of the way.”</p>
<p class="p1">“How far is it from the facility?”</p>
<p class="p1">“‘Bout three miles. Five and a half kilometers.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Show me?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo swung his legs down and tilted the laptop a little, letting Wufei lean over to look at the pictures of the hotel and surrounding area. A small map on the right with a pin on it showed the location within the city.</p>
<p class="p1">“Probably not a lot of crazy security—it’s pretty far from the tourist centers.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Do we want that though?” Wufei leaned back to his spot. “We’re going to stick out as it is.”</p>
<p class="p1">“No, yeah, we will, but if we’re bringing the equipment, surveillance shit, this could be the way to go. The jungle there—“ He circled his hand holding the burger around the map, “is a chimp reserve. Anyone asks: we’re researchers. We probably won’t even be the only ones there for that. Boom, cover handled.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Do you know anything about chimpanzees?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo scoffed. “Course not, but I can bullshit my way into anything if I gotta.</p>
<p class="p1">“Alright, book it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Say no more, bud.” Duo stuffed the last of the burger into his mouth and started clicking. “How do you wanna get into this place? Commercial flight, private jet, covert air drop, fucking…parachute in?” Duo laughed at himself for the last suggestion.</p>
<p class="p1">“The country may be small and underfunded for military, but if someone’s taking great pains to manufacture the CK there, there might be more surveillance that we think. But again, we don’t know at all.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Meaning a secret night drop is a no-go. Let’s just go in like regular civvies do. Do the plane thing, local taxi to the hotel.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei stopped typing and looked concerned. “You’re comfortable with that?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m comfortable anywhere, my man.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I mean in a situation like this, what we’re going for and the possible security, you’re okay to go in like that?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Psh,” he dismissed. “If this were a solo op, I’d go in like I’m on vacation. If you act like you belong, no one’s gonna question you. They’ll look like an idiot if they do; no one likes to look stupid.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had to concede to that. It might be the best way for them to enter the country without rousing suspicion or adding risk to being found out. Wufei didn’t play the game like Duo did. If he had this mission alone, he would be dropped into the jungle and he would hoof-it in. Brute force entrance to the facility. If the situation was dire enough.</p>
<p class="p1">“What about cover? If we’re going in like normies, we using our names or nah? I need to put a name on the hotel rez.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Fake names, just in case. Do you have alternate identification?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Of course!” Duo extended a hand out to Wufei to receive a handshake. “Lindsay Harbinger—nice to meet you.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei took his hand and shook it automatically, and sniggered, shaking his head when he heard the name.</p>
<p class="p1">“Jackson Liu.” He knew if he made a comment about the unisex name Duo would protest and go off about how many nice non-gendered names there were. Duo’s name itself lended itself to either sex. But he had a hard time imagining a girl with the name Duo.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh, Jackson! Your mom give you that name?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei released Duo’s hand and smacked it away playfully. “Piss off. I didn’t want another full Chinese name. You’re supposed to be someone else.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah that’s why I like Lindsay—if I need to cross-dress, I can.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Have you had to do that before?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Just once. I try not to—shit’s dangerous being a woman. You get into some…unsavory situations.” Duo was staring at his computer screen wide-eyed and nodding at his memory. He chuckled hesitantly, “Not too many guys like finding out the pretty girl they’ve been trying to fuck has a dick. It gets pretty brutal at that point.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei could imagine, but he didn’t want to imagine the specific scene of Duo masquerading as a woman and being found out, possibly in a secluded room with a man who didn’t take no for an answer. Duo’s vague statement was enough of a tell that he’d been on the receiving end of a vicious beating.</p>
<p class="p1">“Harbinger…Is that German?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No idea. ‘Harbinger of death’ though, it’s fitting. I like it. I can’t hardly say those German names. I can’t reach back in my throat to speak it. Know how long it took me to figure out how to say Hilde’s last name? I just called her Beaker for a while.” Duo began to type again, starting to make the reservation for the hotel they decided on.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was doing his own side of the work: making lists of any equipment they might need, filling out request forms for the items. The sun was setting over them, bringing in that odd calm and peace this run-down neighborhood seemed to have at night. Kids laughing and running down the street, parents gossiping or telling jokes on their porches.</p>
<p class="p1">“Have you talked to Hilde lately? She must be having to relocate from the retirement.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Haven’t talked to her.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei humphed.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sighed. “You wanna know about us.”</p>
<p class="p1">He did. “I want to know about you.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You know about me, man,” he chortled. “Drugs, homelessness, war, death. A Mexican beer with Mexican food. That’s about the size of it.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei watched Duo say these things and bit the inside of his lip.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo felt his eyes on him. “I want to know why you’re so curious.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I thought you and her were…a good couple. That you loved each other. You ran a business together. When Barton said you left her and went to him to get sober…” Wufei stammered for a second. “I don’t know.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo gave a groaning sigh in his chest and put his legs back up on the table. “You’re bumming my high with this shit.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re not high right now.”</p>
<p class="p1">“How do you know?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I can tell.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hmm. Turns out she only liked me when I was on the speed. She would take some, and she would give me more. And she- Uh…” He wiggled further down in his chair and his shoulders tensed up around his neck, protecting himself. “She was abusive,” he said in a clipped tone.</p>
<p class="p1">Abusive? Wufei was shocked. He’d seen very little of Hilde, but from what he had seen, she seemed playful, a little hard-nosed. A good match for Duo in his own talkative and funny personality. But abusive? Could he imagine Duo tolerating that for even a little bit of time? Duo’s childhood may have been hard and certainly he would have been kicked around a little at least, bully or be bullied, but an abusive relationship? That was different. And now Wufei couldn’t even ask how. That was not something shared in a context like this. He didn’t think he would ever be close enough to Duo to hear how.</p>
<p class="p1">“Surprised? Yeah it turns out you can never really know someone. Learned that the hard way.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei tried to go back to his work, like Duo seemed to be able to do so easily while he talked about things like an abusive girlfriend, but he just stared at a word on the request form, fingers hovering over the keys. Start working, then talk, he decided. Duo always talked while he worked, maybe that’s what he had to learn how to do. He focused and starting filling in the blanks. Duo clicked his cursor and swiped.</p>
<p class="p1">“Have you ever considered counseling? For the drugs and…her.”</p>
<p class="p1">“No, are you kidding? Look at me! They’d send me away to the funny farm the second I opened my mouth. I talked to my Gundam for fucks sake. Psychiatrists cost too much anyway. I can get by on my own. Always have.”</p>
<p class="p1">“By using a different drug instead? The money you spend on that is more than what a therapist would cost—“</p>
<p class="p1">Duo rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Therapy.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei raised his voice some to talk over Duo’s remarks. “—and offers more by helping you work through your issues.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Please! Hard shit like coke and heroin don’t always cost money, you know.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You have to be spending your money on something: you live in a studio in the ghetto, no personal effects or decoration apart from your clothes and a TV. Your Jeep is bought used.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What if I don’t get paid as much as you, Mister High-Up-Office-Man Sharing-A-Floor-With-Fucking-Une! What the fuck is wrong with the way I live?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s anger boiled in his chest and he ground his teeth. “You have the potential to be anything youwant, have anything you could possibly imagine, but instead you throw your life away for a momentary high!</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m not throwing my life away, man—“</p>
<p class="p1">“That stuff will kill you, Duo!”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo snickered and shook his head. He slapped his laptop shut and got up, leaving the computer on the table. He grabbed his empty soda bottle to take inside. “No it won’t; I don’t keep enough of it with me to do that.” He walked into the apartment and tossed the bottle into the trash.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei quickly got up to follow him, but he stayed at the threshold looking in. Duo had thrown the bottle away, but he braced his hands one the kitchen counter, staring down at it. He shook his head and turned to Wufei. “Why the fuck do you care so much about this?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s jaw tightened. He tried to think of something that would make sense to Duo, something that would make sense to himself, because he just couldn’t say “I care about you.” Those words going through his own mind made him feel strange. He did care. Of course he cared. Duo was his friend, he cared about the safety and health of his friends, and it was normal to do so. But thinking about saying it gave him the same feelings he had been so flustered by in the gym the day before last. “I worry for you”? “I care for you”? These weren’t right.</p>
<p class="p1">“I want you to be happy,” he said finally. “Without the coke.”</p>
<p class="p1">The energy seemed to sap out of Duo then. He deflated, slouched. When he looked at Wufei, he looked tired and ashamed. “I can’t.”</p>
<p class="p1">Whatever Wufei felt about that and was going to retort to browbeat some sense into Duo was stopped in it’s tracks by knocking on the front door. But Duo didn’t look over at it, didn’t look surprised. He kept leaning back against the counter with one hand.</p>
<p class="p1">“Wanna guess who that is?” He asked in a soft patronizing tone.</p>
<p class="p1">“Who?”</p>
<p class="p1">“My dealer. I guess you better go.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei choked a scoff in his throat. “No. You could stop right now. Never use again.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m not going to. I don’t want to stop yet.”</p>
<p class="p1">The knocks came again, more forceful, and Duo turned his head to the door, yelling for the person on the other side to come in.</p>
<p class="p1">“Duo, you can’t wait for a crisis to turn you away again.”</p>
<p class="p1">It was a man who entered the apartment, dark clothes, dark messy hair. He looked warily between Wufei and Duo but didn’t speak.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey Jordy,” Duo greeted the man without breaking his eye contact with Wufei. “Don’t mind my friend here—he’s dipping out.”</p>
<p class="p1">The two stood side by side and looked at Wufei, and he’d never felt so cornered in his life. Just the empty stares alone made him want to back away. His chest felt thick and heavy, and a deep centering breath didn’t help him as much as he wanted it to. He wasn’t wanted here right now, and no matter how bad he wanted to stay and fight, he knew he had to go. Fight or flight, and the other parties would refuse to reciprocate a fight. Every step he took to get his laptop off the table and back into the apartment built helpless fury inside him with no way to release it. What else could he do? What else could he say? Could anything make his point to Duo now? Wufei got all the way to the front door before he stopped and growled at himself. He turned.</p>
<p class="p1">“Duo.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s voice was tired. “Yeah, man.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s lips twisted, angry and disappointed. “Fuck you.” He stepped out and slammed the door.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Wufei made it a point not to see Duo at all at Headquarters the next day. He didn’t usually wind up seeing him on a day to day basis anyway. He never really went down into the engineering labs, and Duo only showed up on occasion to get a snack or walk through to the cafeteria. But that day Wufei kept his office door shut and overhead light off, working under his desk lamp. He had to get his request forms finished and in the system today. He had just finished printing them out and he started to look through every paper, double checking everything was filled out correctly and in totality. The worker in the equipment room would look them over too, but to do it himself now meant he would most likely not miss anything, and not have to come back to the office and fill it out again. Preventers were sticklers for typed, perfect forms and reports. No crossing out and writing in.</p>
<p class="p1">Someone knocked on his door, and he called for them to come in. They entered and closed the door behind them. Wufei glanced up and then back to his forms again, flipping that completed page over and inspecting the next one.</p>
<p class="p1">“What can I do for you, Winner?” He realized he hadn’t seen Quatre since the morning after the club. He didn’t see Quatre much anyway. If he thought about it, he never saw any of them much. Their work was divided up, different job titles and buildings. They almost never had to work together on something. That’s why he knew Duo, Trowa, and Quatre liked to eat together for lunch. He didn’t join them often. He thought he should change that. But he’d skipped lunch today—Duo would have been there.</p>
<p class="p1">“I wanted to talk to you.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Then talk.” He flipped another page.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re right: it’s wrong of me to just turn a blind eye to Duo’s problem. I guess I let it slide because he’s happier on it. He doesn’t feel as sad like he does when he’s sober. I don’t know how to get him to stop.”</p>
<p class="p1">“He won’t stop. He said it to me yesterday,” Wufei said evenly. Today, he would keep his cool and let the world’s problems slide off his back. Just keep working.</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre held onto his arms, a concerned expression coming over him. “Yes, Duo said…you two had a fight? He’s quite morose.”</p>
<p class="p1">There was that precise definition of emotion. To the outside world, Duo probably only seemed a little downtrodden, but Quatre somehow felt the inner workings keenly. Wufei wondered if Quatre could feel his aggravation towards the whole situation. He most likely could. But it was interesting to Wufei that Duo would say they had fought. It was mostly Wufei that did the yelling and threw around his anger. Duo just tried to escape it and protect himself. If Duo was outwardly, visibly upset about the event, then maybe Wufei had gotten through to him. He hadn’t intended to levy a good F-You as his exit line, but there was nothing more succinct to make sure Duo knew exactly how upset Wufei was. It seemed maybe it worked? Duo knew he didn’t curse much.</p>
<p class="p1">“Good,” he said and set the papers aside. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Quatre. “Then he understands why I’m so angry and he feels bad about his actions.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Please, it would help if you went to see him today. Make up. He’d feel a lot better.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Make up for what? You want me to say I’m sorry for being mad that he uses drugs and chooses to continue using them despite the pleading of his friends? I’m not in the wrong here. My words are justified.”</p>
<p class="p1">“No, but just to smooth it over. He probably thinks you hate him. What happened to make you fight?”</p>
<p class="p1">“What else?” Wufei scoffed. “Quatre, I need to turn in these forms, please excuse me.” He got up and started tidying the pile of papers, intending the conversation to be shut down.</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre seemed to get the picture and sighed, letting his arms fall. “You don’t have to apologize, please just talk to him. He likes you so much, and he loves all the time you two are spending together; he can’t afford to lose someone else.”</p>
<p class="p1">The fact that Quatre knew about the time they spend together told Wufei that Duo talks about him to Quatre. He didn’t know what to do with that information. He probably didn’t talk about the assignment, it was need-to-know and Duo had already excluded Quatre from their CK conversation once before. What else was there to say? Did Quatre know then that he had spent some nights at Duo’s apartment? Sat by him watching movies to distract him from his grief about L2? Wufei felt a weird mix of pride and embarrassment about that. What did Quatre think their relationship was? He remembered then that he already committed to letting rumors grow about them and dismiss them. Just so he could continue working with him.</p>
<p class="p1">“Maxwell will be fine. He’ll be back to normal by tomorrow and forget it ever happened.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What if he doesn’t?”</p>
<p class="p1">Quatre just wasn’t getting that Wufei wanted this talk to be over. Wufei neglected to answer his question and opened the door, standing beside it to indicate Quatre should exit. He took the hint with a frown and stepped out but he stood beside the door still. Wufei left his office and let the door close behind him as he started his trip down to the vaults. Quatre did not follow.</p>
<p class="p1">The basement was the location of the equipment vaults, only one chain-link gate beside a plexiglass protected desk. As Wufei expected, the worker there, a kind of security guard-slash-secretary, inspected every form. Wufei had to wait there for the entire process as the lady squinted at the documents and snapped her gum. She stopped and typed into her computer after every single one of them, keeping track of exactly what Wufei would be taking out of the vault. It wasn’t much, enough to fit into a suitcase or two, but even headsets had to be accounted for. It was a boring ordeal. After she finished typing for the last one, she told Wufei to wait there and she disappeared into the vast room behind full of shelves and carts and boxes. Stuffed with weapons, surveillance equipment, files. Who knew what else. She was gone for a few minutes, he saw her walk between the aisles a couple times, before she came back with an open box, headsets and wires sitting on top of the other things Wufei requested. She opened the gate and handed it off to Wufei, saying she’d be scanning in his forms and filing them into records that night. He thanked her and took his heavy box back up to his office. He would have to fit everything in nicely to be able to close it and strap it safely to the back of his bike to get home with it all. He talked with the commander before setting off for home, outlining the plans minimally just as a reminder. She already had a folder of the minute details Duo and Wufei had planned out together. This was all for official records. When the operation was over he’d have to write a report, repeating nearly everything that was already in the folder, unless the plan went sideways. The pair would leave for Sierra Leone in two days.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">He arrived at his apartment complex with the equipment safely, and he didn’t expect otherwise. He’d packed things on it before. He lugged the box to his floor, got into the apartment, and carefully stepped to the coffee table to set it down while Taoshu weaved between his legs in greeting. He laughed about it and chided her playfully to be careful. Like she had to worry about that. He was the bigger animal, it was him that had to be careful. Don’t step on the bunny, don’t drop the expensive work stuff, don’t crack your head on the table when you fall. After setting it down he gave her the attention she wanted, scratching behind her ears and tapping her nose. She loved it. But he stopped for a moment and emptied the box onto the couch and dropped it on the floor.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Look what I brought for you,</em>” he whispered happily at her. He spoke to the rabbit in Mandarin exclusively. He reached into his Preventer’s jacket and pulled out his knife, grabbing the box again and cutting a small square out of the side. He set it on the floor upside down again. Taoshu went to it immediately, nose wiggling hurriedly, and she darted into the cut doorway. Her nose poked out from the darkness just as quickly. When Wufei ducked down to the hole suddenly—</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Boo!</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">—She jumped away into the dark, and Wufei listened to her run circles in the box. She tucked her nose out again. He laughed at her and left her for the kitchen. He made a little toy for her, just a small paper bag filled with hay and tied up with string, but when he set it on the floor just in front of the opening, Taoshu’s nose wiggled again. She sniffed it, and then leapt out at it, starting to nibble on the edges of the bag to get to the hay. Wufei stroked her back and left her to it.</p>
<p class="p1">He started sorting through the equipment he’d dumped on the couch and noted every item he pulled out, checking that they were in good condition before setting each one nicely on the table in an organized fashion. They should be functional—they were inspected upon every return from the field for faults and breaks, but Wufei liked to double check. He had nothing else to do anyway. He would have to check their functionality too with Duo before they left, making sure the headsets and transmitting equipment worked in unison. He stopped after a minute and fished out his phone, finding music to listen to while he sorted things out. He continued to come back to that kind of music that brought him some kind of strange sad nostalgia. He didn’t know how to explain it. A nostalgia for a time that he’s never known, and though it was somehow sad, it was soothing. It sounded old, like spotty reception or a low quality audio recording. He tuned into a playlist that ran all day and night, and let it go while he returned to sorting.</p>
<p class="p1">The only things he hadn’t requisitioned for were weapons. This kind of mission didn’t require them, and it would only pose a big risk if they brought some and were discovered. But Wufei did wonder if he shouldn’t bring something. He could fight on his own, being trained in hand-to-hand combat since he was a child, and he still practiced so he was confident in his skills, but Duo… He didn’t know what Duo’s combat skills were, or if he even had any. Stealth operations and hacking communications necessitated no physical contact at all or else that would defeat the purpose. Maybe he’d had to fight when he lived on the streets of L2 colonies, but that was different from a confrontation with possible trained mercenaries or military security. If the mission went as planned, there wouldn’t be a single instance that would require a gun. But should he prep for an incident?</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei blew out a breath as he thought about it. Tough decision. The chances of tracing the CK back to the buyer would dissipate quickly if a firefight broke out. Leads would dry up. His stomach growled loudly. Taoshu’s ears twisted towards the noise as she ripped up the bag, starting to pull out hay by the strand. He forgot he’d skipped lunch. But he had to feed his rabbit soon anyway—why not feed himself? He moved to do just that. Something simple. Something…soupy, he decided. He pulled chicken out of the fridge and a cone of a young bamboo shoot and found his cutting board, setting to work while he set water to boil. After the shoot was boiled, he cut it into thin strips, same with the chicken, and combined them into a fresh pot of water with various other ingredients. In the minuscule foyer, the intercom buzzed loudly through the background music and Wufei jumped, missing the target of putting the lid on the pot to boil. He heard quick paper rustling in the living room and looked over the counter to see Taoshu dive into the cover of the box. The buzzer did not go off very often. He went to it, pressed the red button, and spoke.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Yes? Who is this?”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">The reply came through with a slightly fuzzy back-feed. “Uh- Shit. I don’t speak Chinese, sorry. I’m looking for Wufei Chang? This is 306 right?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo. Wufei looked at the cut out circles of the intercom that covered the speaker with confusion. Duo did not know where he lived. He also apparently couldn’t recognize Wufei’s voice when he spoke his native language.</p>
<p class="p1">“What are you doing here, Maxwell?” He could imagine the relief on Duo’s face at the use of English.</p>
<p class="p1">“I came to see you.” He sounded more mild then. “I gotta talk to you. Can I come in?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei didn’t stop to think about it. He hit the yellow button that would unlock the gate outside the front doors of the building. Then he unlocked his door and opened it a crack, enough to let light into the hallway, but not enough for Taoshu to paw at and escape if the notion took her. He had to check on his soup. He stirred it and replaced the lid. He turned to the fridge and decided on a drink. He didn’t keep sodas, only one bottle of <em>baijiu, </em>and multiple prepackaged bubble teas. Otherwise he would brew tea or coffee himself and drink that. But it was a bubble tea night. Guilty pleasure.</p>
<p class="p1">The front door squeaked a bit as it was opened, and Wufei came out of the fridge with cup in hand, dislodging the attached straw from the side and stabbing it into the flimsy plastic lid and turned to see Duo standing at the edge of his kitchen looking around the place. He was in regular clothes, but he looked more like himself during the old days—black jeans, the leather jacket and a red shirt underneath. Less cocky and surefire of himself though. Wufei gave him a minute to gather his bearings in the new place, though Duo didn’t move from his spot at the opening of the kitchen. When Duo finally looked at him, Wufei sipped at his drink.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey,” Duo muttered.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I uh, I asked Trowa for your address; hope that’s okay. Guess it’s a little late now.”</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s fine.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s eyes darted around the kitchen to the pot on the stove, the tea in Wufei’s hand, the cutting board still out on the counter with a knife resting on top. He sniffed and rubbed his nose, but Wufei didn’t think it was because he’d just done a line. He didn’t act like he had. It was probably a habit now.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re- Shit, sorry-“ Duo remembered the front door was wide open and he quickly closed it. He took a deep breath and exhaled it. “You’re pretty pissed at me.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What gave it away?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo shrugged vaguely. “I’m sorry, man. I-I don’t know what to say.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei wanted Duo to sweat a little, staying aloof. He sipped the tea again, catching a “bubble” in his teeth and chewing it slowly. “Say you’ll quit.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s jaw tensed and he looked at the floor, saying nothing.</p>
<p class="p1">“Say why.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei noticed Taoshu cautiously round the corner into the kitchen, silently sneaking close to Duo’s heels and sniffing deeply. He set the tea on the counter and checked his soup, giving it a quick stir. “You know what I mean. Why the cocaine. If you can’t tell me you’ll stop, tell me why you started.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why does anyone start.” Duo’s eyes rolled but not in a mocking gesture.</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s not an answer.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I don’t want to talk about it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Is it about Heero? About Hilde?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s mouth pinched shut and he looked resentful. A dull anger. “I can’t talk about it,” he grumbled.</p>
<p class="p1">“You can’t, or you won’t?”</p>
<p class="p1">He shook his head gently. “I can’t. I just can’t, ‘Fei.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei breathed heavily through his nose, annoyed, exasperated, and disappointed. But Duo’s quiet denial told him he couldn’t press for more. Duo’s pain ran deep, and Wufei wasn’t allowed to dive down there yet. He turned to the stove and shut off the gas. He pulled the lid off, letting the steam waft up just in front of his face, and he stared into its swirling pale golden liquid.</p>
<p class="p1">“I know you want to know what happened to me and Heero,” Duo murmured. “But I’m…just not ready.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei broke out of his stupor and went into a cabinet fort two small bowls. “Are you hungry?” He started filling one bowl with a ladle of the soup.</p>
<p class="p1">“Uh, sure. Thanks.”</p>
<p class="p1">He made a small tilting gesture with his head. “Sit down.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo moved to round the corner and do as he was told.</p>
<p class="p1">“Watch out for the rabbit.”</p>
<p class="p1">“The wha- Oh, SHIT!” Duo jumped back as he looked down at his feet where Taoshu had been curiously sniffing at him. His sudden movement made her hop away a few feet and watch warily.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei stayed calm and filled the second bowl.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo panted for a second, removing himself from the wall where he jumped. “Jesus, man, I almost stepped on it!” He crouched down and admired, the sullen mood momentarily forgotten. “Is this yours? You have a pet bunny?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei set the bowls on the bar counter where the stools sat on the other side in the living room, and he came back for his bubble tea. “Her name’s Taoshu.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo seemed to want to reach out, but he stopped short, looking up at Wufei for confirmation. “Can I touch her?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, just be slow.” He watched Duo lean forward and hold his hand out to her, but she stayed at a distance though she looked curious. Duo’s wide eyes were locked on hers.</p>
<p class="p1">“Here,” he said, walking between Duo and the entryway, and he let his fingers brush through the hair on top of Duo’s head as he went. Wufei didn’t have time to panic and analyze that unconscious movement, but his heartbeat sped up and he just hoped Duo didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he squatted in the small foyer and called for the bunny, holding his hand out to her in the same way Duo had. She hopped over to him slowly and bumped her nose into his fingers. He started to rub her cheeks with one finger.</p>
<p class="p1">“Pet her now.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo pulled his lips in between his teeth and tried to slowly lean forward again and rest the pads of his fingers on Taoshu’s back. Once there, he stroked backward with intense care. Almost like he was scared to pet her. “Damn, she’s so soft,” he whispered excitedly. “I’ve never pet a bunny before.” He continued to stroke over her back gently and slowly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Pet her cheeks.”</p>
<p class="p1">His petting stopped and he looked at Wufei with concerned panic. “Wha- no. I don’t want her to bite me.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei snorted. “She won’t bite you.” He reached for Duo’s hand and started to move it towards her face. “One finger.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s pointer finger extended alone on the command even as he started to lean away with worry. “Wait, uhhhh—!“ And then his finger pressed into her squishy cheek softly. Wufei kept hold of his hand and moved it so the finger rubbed back and forth over the fur and whiskers. Duo chuckled nervously and Wufei let go to let him do it himself. Taoshu welcomed the petting, nose wiggling and smelling the new hand. Duo snickered at himself after a moment and dropped his head down, one finger still pointed and poking into the rabbit’s cheek.</p>
<p class="p1">“I feel so stupid. She’s so cute.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, she is.” Wufei rose slowly and stepped widely over his friend and rabbit, wanting to eat his soup.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo stayed and continued to pet for another minute before getting up to join him at the countertop. Taoshu hustled away into the living room and into the box. Duo made note of the hay strewn on the floor, bits and pieces of the chewed up paper bag everywhere. He sat down and looked into the bowl, but picked up his spoon and followed Wufei’s lead in slurping at it.</p>
<p class="p1">“I never thought you’d have a pet. Definitely not a bunny.”</p>
<p class="p1">“One of the other tenants’ rabbit had a litter—she was going door to door handing them out if they wanted one.”</p>
<p class="p1">“And you took one.” Duo chuckled. “So weird.” He chewed on the soft chicken and bamboo slices. “You don’t have any kids, do you?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No. Why would I have kids; I’m not seeing anyone.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Your wife.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei chortled around a sip from the spoon.</p>
<p class="p1">“What? If you have a wife, usually you get kids.”</p>
<p class="p1">“We were fourteen when we married, Duo.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Some of the girls in my colony had kids when they were twelve.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei closed his eyes against the picture of pre-teens with full pregnant bellies. “Meilan and I never consummated the marriage. We weren’t married for long.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo hummed knowingly and tilted the bowl up to drink from it. “So you’re a virgin.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei knew Duo had said that to get a reaction out of him, and even as he knew it he couldn’t help but scoff. “I am not a virgin.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Sally?”</p>
<p class="p1">“What?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Did you bone Sally Po?”</p>
<p class="p1">“No!” Why were they talking about this?</p>
<p class="p1">“…the Commander?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei groaned at the thought. “No— I don’t like women. Meilan and I were together because of custom. We wouldn’t have chose it otherwise.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo hummed interestedly.</p>
<p class="p1">They both had finished the soup and Wufei took another drink. He remembered he hadn’t offered Duo anything and got up, rounding into the kitchen.</p>
<p class="p1">“Anyone we know then?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I wouldn’t tell you even if it were someone you knew—you’d be insufferable.” He pulled out a pink colored bubble tea and set it on the counter in front of Duo, to which he grinned and grabbed happily.</p>
<p class="p1">“So it might be someone we know! Because you’re being deceptive. I’ll make you a deal.” He offered.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei grumbled. He felt like he was going to regret this. “What deal?”</p>
<p class="p1">“You tell me who you banged, I’ll tell you what I can about Heero. A little bit.”</p>
<p class="p1">It was an interesting offer, because anyone Wufei had sex with wasn’t top secret, he just didn’t talk about it, and Duo’s relationship with Heero was obviously quite painful. Seemed like an uneven trade-off.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei huffed. “It’s two people you know. From Trowa’s troupe. No, before you ask—not at the same time. Chernyshevsky and Evans.”</p>
<p class="p1">“What!” Duo exclaimed, howling laughter. “The jugglers? CC and Ryan?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei rolled his eyes. “Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Dude, they’re married now!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Really?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes! Oh my god, that’s hilarious. What, this was during the war, then?” Duo took a big gulp of his tea, squishing the tapioca bubbles in his cheek.</p>
<p class="p1">“While I stayed at the circus with Trowa, yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Damn, ‘Fei! Ryan’s like, ten years older than us! I can’t believe you scored that.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei came back into the living room but he didn’t sit again, he went to the coffee table with all the equipment laid out in order so he wouldn’t have to look at Duo. “I think he likes them younger.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo had turned on the stool to follow Wufei’s movements, and he saw the equipment. He hopped down and came to them, conversation forgotten for a moment. “Is this our gear?”</p>
<p class="p1">“We need to do comm. checks, video feed, the usual.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Alright, let’s do it,” Duo had already picked up a thick and small tablet and flipped it over to inspect it. He found a tiny ear piece, barely two inches long, oblong, and he put it in one ear.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei handed him a pair of lightweight glasses with the lenses tinted lightly yellow and he put them on. Then he took the tablet from Duo, and collected another one, and pressed and held a button to turn them on. “Go upstairs, turn your stuff on.”</p>
<p class="p1">“On it.” Duo looked around for the stairs, found them easily (it was a small apartment) and jumped up the steps. After a moment, Taoshu hopped up after him.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had to wait for the tablets to turn on and load. He scrolled through a list of connections. “Are you up?” He shouted through the apartment.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s voice sounded down the stairs muffled. “Yeah!”</p>
<p class="p1">He connected the devices and put a headset on, repositioning the microphone to fit around his cheek. The video feed blinked to life on one tablet, the other showed spiking and dropping lines for recorded sound. He was greeted with a view of the inside of his closet and clothes hanging there. He did not leave the closet door open, he knew.</p>
<p class="p1">“What are you doing?” He asked flatly.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s voice came through his headset clearly. “<em>Just checking out your sweet duds, man.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hm. I’m checking the feed. Look up?”</p>
<p class="p1">The video scanned up to the red and gold tapestries hanging from the ceiling.</p>
<p class="p1">“Shake, left to right.”</p>
<p class="p1">The vigorous shaking of Duo’s head didn’t allow for anything to really be seen on the tablet’s feed, but it worked and was clear.</p>
<p class="p1">“Down.”</p>
<p class="p1">Suddenly Taoshu appeared on the screen, sitting up on her back legs and looking at what seemed to be the camera, but she was in the bedroom looking at Duo.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Oh hi, Sweet Cheeks.</em>” He’d bent down and slowly pet her. He was still cautious about going for a cheek rub, but he did it.</p>
<p class="p1">“How does it feel?”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Ooh so soft. All the strays I’ve pet, when they let you, they’re so, like, coarse.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“I mean the glasses. The feed.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Oh! They’re good. Fit nice. Look good on your end?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Perfect. Run through the vocal test.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo started to exaggerate a vocal warm up. “<em>Mi-mi-mi-miiiiii</em>—“</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei closed his eyes but he couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Seriously, please.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sighed in Wufei’s ear and the video moved away from the bunny at his feet to swing back up to the ceiling and its bright colors and patterns. Duo had laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Wanna hear about Heero now?</em>” He whispered.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei looked at the second tablet, watching the colored lines running horizontal track Duo’s quiet voice with little zig-zags. He had to focus on making sure the equipment worked, though he was positive it all would anyway, but he couldn’t lie that he was intensely interested in other things. “Tell me.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>He left me to be with Relena. I know you know that</em>.” Duo still whispered. “<em>But you don’t know why. And you don’t know why it hurts so bad.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei wasn’t going to interrupt the test, but he wondered if this was making it easier for Duo to talk about, because he didn’t have to look at anyone, and no one could look at him. He talked back anyways. He wanted as much info as Duo would hand out.</p>
<p class="p1">“I assume it hurts because you love him,” he replied quietly. He leaned back into the couch, still watching between the two tablets.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s voice came through stronger, a normal speaking volume. “<em>I don’t love him. Not anymore.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Just like that? I thought you two were stronger than that.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>I thought so too, man. But when you find out these people you love just don’t…love you—the you as a whole person…how do you keep giving the love to not get any of it back? That’s what happened. Hilde only loved me when I was high. And I had to keep doing more and more to stay that way. Heero…didn’t love me at all. I mean-</em>“ the video of the tapestries slowly shook back and forth. “<em>He did, probably. But not all of me; everything that I am</em>.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sighed heavily. “<em>He just wanted something else. He wanted a different kind of person, and I wasn’t it. I couldn’t be what he wanted.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">‘We wanted different things,’ Heero had said. And here Duo admitted to something quite similar.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Not as exciting as you thought it was gonna be, huh?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“I just don’t know how it leads to this.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>To what?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“The drugs.”</p>
<p class="p1">Again Wufei listened to Duo breathe deeply, and the feed turned away from the ceiling and over to the dresser. Duo had turned onto his side. Wufei watched Duo’s hand come into view, sliding over the covers.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>I like your bed. Way more comfy than mine.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">And just like that, Duo had shut the door on his history.</p>
<p class="p1">“The audio is good. Come back down,” Wufei ordered.</p>
<p class="p1">“Roger.” In quick order Duo’s boots stamped down the stairs. He took the earpiece out and handed off the glasses. “Your bedroom is super Asian,” he laughed.</p>
<p class="p1">It never ceased to amaze Wufei how fast Duo’s moods could switch. But he wondered if it really was that easy for him to skip from sad to happy to angry or if it was just a cover to hide behind how he truly felt. “Does that surprise you?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Nah, I guess not. You do live in China-town. And are very Chinese.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei snorted.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sat on the floor in front of the low table and started picking up the items one by one and inspected them just had Wufei had when he laid them out. “Do you wanna meet up at the airport, or something else? We leave the day after tomorrow.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Pick me up here. I don’t like to leave my bike at the airport alone for long.”</p>
<p class="p1">“People fuck with it, don’t they?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I fucking hate that. Personal property that you have to just trust people respect. And some people just fucking don’t. Can you imagine if someone did something to Trowa’s car? He’d murder them. Full-on ballistic missiles aimed at their houses.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I had no idea Barton drove that thing. I found out recently.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo snickered, disconnecting a cord from a small black box. “I know—doesn’t look the type to street race, but he loves that shit.”</p>
<p class="p1">“‘Pretty car go fast,’” Wufei imitated Trowa’s words.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo choked on his laughter and let his head drop down on the table. “Yes. Fuckin’ weirdo. Everything he does is so surprising that it just <b>doesn’t</b> surprise me anymore. You could tell me he’s into food-fucking and I’d say ‘Yeah that’s my boy Trowa’.”</p>
<p class="p1">“It seems like Preventer life has been good for him. He can branch out like this and discover new things rather than stay in the same circles of the circus.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah I mean, I’m sure he loves his sister, but I bet he definitely loves being with his girlfriend without Cathy hanging around and doing the big sister thing.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Girlfriend?” Wufei stopped fiddling with the tablets.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh,” Duo smirked devilishly. “You don’t know about Karen. Hm! Well, I won’t be spoiling that for you. Karen’s hush-hush. You’ll find out eventually. Probably.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s ominous. Now I’m horribly curious.” Wufei was discovering that he was out of the loop with a lot of things concerning his old war buddies. After the war he immediately joined the Preventers while the others took off back to some semblance of their lives before the war, or something discovered during it. He had been isolated from them for a long time it felt like.</p>
<p class="p1">The notification beeping of an incoming mobile suit pierced through their conversation shrilly, and the noise Wufei hadn’t heard in years shocked him to sit up, eyes wide. He felt disoriented, but Duo acted as though nothing happened. He just reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. He glanced at it and then at Wufei, noting his unsure expression.</p>
<p class="p1">“Like my text tone? Takes you back doesn’t it?”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s your message notification? It takes me back to hell and panic.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo chuckled and looked into his messages. “Yeah it keeps me on my toes. One time it went off when I was super focused on fixing together a new tech— scared the absolute shit out of me; I crushed my thing trying to grip it like the joysticks. Techs around my station are all confused why I’m shouting like a madman all of a sudden. Ah, hey-“ He tucked his phone back into his pocket. “It’s Quatre. I’m supposed to meet him at a hookah bar. Apparently he’s ready now.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei got up when Duo did and followed behind him when he walked to the door. He didn’t want him to leave yet, he was enjoying their time together as usual, listening to Duo talk about whatever came to his mind. He was glad he’d opened up to him even a little. Duo turned around suddenly, almost bumping into him.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey, are we okay now?” He asked meekly. “I know I didn’t really tell you what you wanted to hear but…I don’t want you to be mad at me, man. I only got so many friends: I wanna keep you.”</p>
<p class="p1">“We’re okay. I-“ Wufei wanted to say he worried about him, but he knew Duo just didn’t want to hear that. He didn’t want to push him away again today with that. He sighed instead. Would it be too cheesy to say he wanted to keep Duo too? Or too risky? And why would it feel risky to say that? “We’re okay.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s smile was small but relieved. “Hey, we-“ Duo’s hand had reached close but he hesitated and the back of his fingers brushed Wufei’s hand. His lips twitched as he fumbled for the words, but he apparently didn’t find them and clicked his tongue. His hand retreated to his side again and he chuckled weakly. “Never mind. I’ll pick you up for the flight.” He opened the door and let himself out, and Wufei said goodbye.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Duo sidled in front of the seats on the plane and took the window seat while Wufei stood in the aisle and stowed his duffle bag in the cabinets above them. Duo had brought a large backpack and put it under the seat in front of them, as the airline stewards would tell them to do anyway. People did their best to slide past each other without too much jostling. There were those that just didn’t care though. When Wufei took the seat beside him, Duo tilted his head towards him and spoke conspiratorially.</p>
<p class="p1">“I miss the days when you could just commandeer a plane and fucking go. All these lines and waiting is for the birds, man.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei snorted. The airport had been busy, stuffed to the brim with travelers running every which way. Lined up for the security checks, lined up waiting to get on the plane, waiting for it to take off. Duo didn’t complain about it at the time, and in fact seemed quite jovial. The flight was around twenty-four hours though, with a stop in Brussels, so Wufei wondered just how long Duo could keep up the good mood.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey what do you do with Taoshu when you go off like this? You put her outside?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I have a neighbor that watches her. She checks on her daily, feeds her, spends a little time with her.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh! Huh. Never had a pet before. You trust someone staying in your place while you’re gone though?”</p>
<p class="p1">“She’s a seventy year old woman, she’s long past her days of robbing me blind. Her grandson broke into my apartment one night though looking for something to steal.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh shit, really? You kick his ass, kung-fu style?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I chased him out in my underwear with my sword.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo broke out in a roar of laughter which he tried to restrain behind one hand, no doubt imagining the scene. Wufei couldn’t help but start chuckling with him.</p>
<p class="p1">“Man…I would’ve paid money to see that. He probably thought you were a fucking lunatic.” Duo sighed and shook his head, smiling.</p>
<p class="p1">The talkative, fun atmosphere dried up some when their seat mate finally arrived—an older man in a business suit and a cane. He greeted the pair quietly-</p>
<p class="p1">“Hello, gents.”</p>
<p class="p1">-and gave a short groan as he sat down. Duo and Wufei gave their own stylized greetings in return.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey mister.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Good morning, sir.”</p>
<p class="p1">But the old man didn’t go in for more talking after that. He pulled the in-flight magazine out from the pocket of the seat in front of him and slowly read through it.</p>
<p class="p1">The flight crew talked over the speakers, told the passengers where the exits were, how to put on the inflatable safety vest, but none of the three seated together listened. Duo looked out the window at the tarmac and read the glow-stick signals of the aircraft marshall waving his arms around. Wufei had his tablet ready to turn on and start reading from as soon as they allowed it, but he was able to sneak a look beside Duo to the outside as well. It was early enough in the morning that it was still cool and foggy out, low lighting of the early rising sun. He liked those flights best. They had a certain atmosphere to them that was calm but also felt distant, like being the only one on the plane somehow, even though someone probably jostled your arm throughout the whole flight. When the plane sped away and lifted its nose to the air, they felt the drag pull them back in their seats some. It was absolutely nothing like exiting the atmosphere of the planet, nowhere near a re-entry fall, but when Wufei watched Duo during the takeoff, he noticed his serenely closed eyes and pleased smile even as his head was pressed back on the seat. He was most likely remembering and enjoying the sensation. Wishing he was hurtling into space inside the Deathscythe. Wufei enjoyed the sensation some too, but he was sure Duo was nostalgic for it. He was a true spacer—born and raised off-world. He found peace in the freedom from gravity and the deadly vacuum of outer space. He probably lived for take-off procedures and evasive maneuvers in any craft whether it be his Gundam or space shuttle. As the plane evened out in the air and the drag stopped, Duo’s eyes lifted open and the smile disappeared as he stared at the boring interior of the plane and it’s seatbelt signs and call buttons. Wufei didn’t look away fast enough though because Duo turned to him and they locked eyes. Wufei never realized before how probing they seemed. The off-blue and black pointing deep into him somehow.</p>
<p class="p1">“Miss the take-off?” Wufei asked.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah.” He whispered and laid his head back on the rest, looking at the lit seatbelt sign again. “I miss my buddy. I don’t miss the war—I don’t miss killing people—but…I don’t know. I miss space.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei understood the sentiment. He was oddly attached to Nataku the same way Duo was to Deathscythe; they all were to their own Gundams. In a beastly machine that people stood in awe or fear of, there was this sense of protection and safety. They weren’t disposable dolls or crushable Leos, they were an unstoppable force, a tool of justice, even if that justice was a long time coming.</p>
<p class="p1">“Do you?”</p>
<p class="p1">Did he?</p>
<p class="p1">“I miss…” He mimicked Duo’s position looking up, thinking back. He thought about the dual with Treize, the battles with Zechs, some of his favorite memories of the war, even though they certainly weren’t <b>good</b> memories. What was it about that he liked so much? “I miss a challenge.” The last time he set foot on his colony, sparing with Master Long’s disciples.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah. I like Preventers but, I’m bored honestly. I’m glad you let me come with you for this. Field work’s where it’s at.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Why didn’t you stay with Howard? The Sweepers?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hilde,” he shrugged. “We were running that shop. I kept in contact with them, got things from them, but I was trying to live that “normal life” thing. After her, after Heero, I just wanted to be with you guys. It’s hard being alone. No normie gets me like you.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo was right: it wasn’t hard to make friends with people and be close to them, but they couldn’t talk about the war the way the five of them could. Whether the person had been part of it or not— the Gundams, being pushed out into a battlefield with no clear mission set for them except what they thought was right, changed them and brought the five of them together. Quatre had no piloting or warfare skills before stepping into Sandrock. Wufei never had to kill before, fighting others stronger and more adept than him. How could a civilian understand them and the constant fear, confusion, and rage they felt during that? How would they understand why Duo could laugh about the amount of death that followed him, or Trowa shrugging off his admittance to using mass-murdering weapons? Wufei was able to slide back into some semblance of a regular life again when the fighting was over, but he’d changed just like the rest of them. A little less full of rage, a little more humble, but someone could still light his fire pretty quickly. He’d had to learn to eschew some of the staunch traditionalism of his colonies culture in order to fit in with this different society, broach the subject of weakness and women and protection with a different set of words. It seemed like Duo had no trouble fitting in wherever he pleased, a chameleon of the people. But Wufei was sure he probably had to learn ways to stay in one place, cope with the unchanging lifestyle that regular people had. It was hard to hold a born drifter down.</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m gonna listen to my music—you alright?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei nodded and let him put his earphones in and stare out the window at the retreating city they left behind. He himself turned on his tablet and found something to read. The long flight would allow him plenty of peace and time to read, but he debated whether he should read for pleasure, or something for work. Some kind of research on Leone. They didn’t have enough time to prep for fitting in to the country because of the urgency of the situation. And this operation didn’t call for ingratiation to society, just get in under the radar and get out. He decided he didn’t care just then, and opened a digital book he enjoyed. He’d already read it before, some years ago, but why not again and see the foreshadowing for what it was ahead of the characters? Duo was most likely enjoying himself, why not him too? He dug into his shirt breast pocket and pulled out his glasses and got to reading.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">He was falling asleep, lulled by the hushed conversations around him and the drone of the plane engines. He faded in and out of his book and reread the same paragraph over and over. The next moment he surfaced blearily, his tablet was hanging loosely in his fingers, glasses slid to the tip of his nose. His chin almost touched his chest. He couldn’t bring himself to lift his head though, content to let the sleep continue to take him. Through his fuzzy sight a hand reached over and grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him to the side. Duo’s shoulder was there and ready to meet Wufei’s temple. Wufei just let it happen and his eyes drifted shut again.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo whispered at him, fleeting breath brushing the top of his forehead. “You’re gonna fuck up your neck sleeping like that.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had nothing to respond. He only let the notion slide through his mind that Duo’s warm, if bony, shoulder felt nice. He hummed tiredly. He was beginning to fade out again, mind going blank, but still hearing the hum of some conversation in the seats ahead of them.</p>
<p class="p1">“We should go clubbing again.”</p>
<p class="p1">He vaguely heard Duo’s voice over his head. He breathed out heavily through his nose, unable to make a reply as he drifted away.</p>
<p class="p1">“…You could dance with me this time.”</p>
<p class="p1"> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Someone sneezed and Wufei’s eyes flew open, but he knew he was safe where he was—no mission yet. The plane still rumbled, most of the lights in the cabin were off. He checked his watch and found that, as per the timezone they had left from, it was late. He didn’t know where they flew over now, but they’d be getting off in Brussels in another hour to hop the next plane to Africa. A small movement made him aware of the gentle weight on top of his head, and when he slowly moved to sit up, Duo’s head slipped off of his to rest on his shoulder. Duo breathed deeply in a dim sleepy awareness of movement, starting to shift, but Wufei stopped him and propped his elbow on the arm rest, giving him a more solid and steady space to sleep.</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s okay, we’re not there yet.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo hummed and muttered. “‘Kay…” He slid his arm under Wufei’s to scoot closer in his seat, settling firmer on his arm and shoulder.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei breaths were shallow and his jaw tightened as he glanced down to where the back of Duo’s hand rested against the side of his thigh. He looked back up to the back of the seat in front of him and sighed. He pulled his glasses off and held them on his leg, the back of his own hand now touching Duo’s. His heart beat faster at the contact. He would have to confront this, he knew. Something was going on, intruding thoughts that were so innocent but surprised and confused him, touching that made him nervous and feeling like he had sprinted a hundred-yard dash. His inability to say simple things any friend would say to another about worry and caring. But he neglected to acknowledge why. Why was that? He knew of course, without even thinking any words to label or describe it, but it would have to remain that way. Duo was his hurting and substance addicted friend who needed help. Help from a friend. That was his priority.</p>
<p class="p1">“How long have you known each other?” The old man beside Wufei spoke suddenly, gently. When Wufei looked over at him, the older man turned to him from his own tablet. His expression was soft but curious. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but we are in quite close quarters. I heard something about Preventers? You seem quite close.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh- uh…Six or seven years. We were comrades in the war. Now we work together with the Preventers.”</p>
<p class="p1">“The Eve War?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei nodded and the man’s expression turned pained as he glanced between Wufei and Duo.</p>
<p class="p1">“Many a young person senselessly lost their lives in that fight. I see you and your comrade were some of the lucky few to survive.”</p>
<p class="p1">“There were a few times we almost didn’t.”</p>
<p class="p1">The man nodded slowly, and then he turned to glance down the aisle of the plane. He turned back and sighed roughly. “Restroom has finally cleared up. I’ll leave you alone.” And he rose, taking his cane.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei rested his head back on the seat, staring up at the seatbelt signs that were unlit and the stewardess call buttons. Wufei knew not to read into the throwaway statement the man had given: you seem quite close. The old man had meant it, and meant it as in he saw their camaraderie, and not that they seemed…close. He read into it anyway, how could he not? Still quite aware of their hands barely touching, and Wufei felt like a fool for getting worked up about it. Duo was a physical and feely person to those he was especially friendly with, hence why he’d had no issue pulling Wufei over himself for him to sleep. He had to leave it at that. He had to.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">They had waited at the baggage turnabout to wait for the single suitcase they brought, each carrying their own backpack or duffel, and once stepping outside the doors into the sunshine they were greeted with the heat and noise of the city of Freetown.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo stepped forward to a line of three-wheeled vehicles with their drivers awaiting patiently. “We gotta get a keke to the hotel, it’s too far to walk.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei blinked stupidly, unprepared for Duo to take the lead immediately after getting outside. “What.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo didn’t hear him though, strolling up to a driver and talking. He turned and waved Wufei over and stooped over to get into the back of the canvas-covered vehicle. Wufei hurried over and climbed in behind him with the suitcase. The driver got into the single, centered, front seat and pulled out into the street, and they drove away from the airport.</p>
<p class="p1">“We’re gonna drop our shit off at the hotel and then we gotta meet someone,” Duo said loudly, leaning over to Wufei, but he was looking out the open doorway at the passing shops and vendors, people going by in a flash. Wufei had been doing the same.</p>
<p class="p1">“Who?”</p>
<p class="p1">“You’ll see.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You said ‘get a keke’?”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s what this is. Like a taxi I guess? Not the usual kind though. Obviously.” The two made eye contact again and Duo smirked. “What, you think I didn’t do my homework?”</p>
<p class="p1">That’s exactly why Wufei was glad to have Duo along. They took care of different parts of the mission the other might not have thought about. It took twenty minutes to get to the hotel, a tall cream and orange colored building against the backdrop of the jungle and chimpanzee reserve beyond. Wufei got out and grabbed the suitcase while Duo paid the man, waiting for the change and patting him on the shoulder good-naturedly. The keke drove off back into the heart of the city.</p>
<p class="p1">When they checked in and reached the room, Duo made sure the door was locked, and the two were suddenly silent. The bags were set on the lone bed and forgotten while they split up and searched the room, looking into all vents, the closet, the bathroom and all its faucets, inside the provided alarm clock.</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s clear,” Duo finally said, coming out of the small bathroom.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei agreed what he had look through was safe as well. They had no idea if any information they had had somehow been leaked, but it seemed as though there were no bugs in the room for them to worry about.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo clapped his hands together and grinned. “Fucking change, my dude—we’re going out!” He started tearing into his backpack and pulled a new set of rolled clothes out of the bottom of the bag. Cargo shorts and a tank. Wufei moved to do the same but with less speed. “You saw how hot it was. Shit, my ass was almost sweating.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the bed. He glanced at Duo who had already started throwing on the tank, and flashed his eyes over his dark silver piercing and up his toned torso. Reaching Duo’s face told him Duo was doing exactly the same, eyeing Wufei’s exposed upper half. Duo had no issues with staring.</p>
<p class="p1">“Jesus, your fucking ripped,” he said, chuckling in disbelief.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei clicked his tongue and turned away some unconsciously, face heating up. The T-shirt flowing past his face didn’t cool him at all.</p>
<p class="p1">“You always wear loose stuff. If you got the goods, and you obviously do, fucking own it.” He shucked his jeans off and grabbed his shorts.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei made a point not to look this time as he did the same. He would have no excuse for himself and he knew Duo would say something. “And have women throw themselves at me daily? No.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh, so you <b>do</b> know you’re hot! Tisk-tisk. Trying to be all humble and shit. You just gotta send the right message if you want dudes only.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei rolled his eyes, and the two replaced their shoes, packing their wallets into their pockets. “You have a contact here?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Kinda. Once I got the go-ahead for the team I started looking for “friends”. Been recon-ing through him.” Duo went into the bathroom and returned immediately with a paper cup, tossing it up and down. They started out of the room and Duo crouched down from the outside, reaching in through the crack with the cup and setting it just on the inside of the doors path. They locked it and went outside, getting another keke.</p>
<p class="p1">“Who is he?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh he’s a local. Gonna show us around a little, know what I mean?” Duo’s eyebrow cocked meaningfully. This local apparently was going to show them where they wanted be tonight. Wufei wondered exactly how much this local knew about their mission, but he trusted Duo to have been thorough in vetting his “friend”.</p>
<p class="p1">The keke took them through the city again and dropped them off…somewhere. Wufei didn’t know where and he was sure Duo didn’t know either, but he had been the one that gave the driver the location. All Wufei knew was there was an enormous tree right there in the center of the city, the roads curving around it’s enclosing picket fence. They got out and stepped into the busy sidewalk, jostled occasionally by people going to and fro. Duo stayed ahead of him and looked back to make sure he was following closely, and Wufei let himself be led. He looked into the stalls as they passed, stocked with fruits, foods, and crafted goods. Down the street a tall man waved and Duo waved back emphatically, picking up the pace to reach him. He must be the contact.</p>
<p class="p1">When they met, Duo was grinning and opened his arms in greeting. “Modeko!”</p>
<p class="p1">The taller man smiled too, bright white teeth shining, and he extended a hand which Duo shook and they grabbed up their arms with the other hand. “Lindsay! <em>Aw Di bodi?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Di Bodi fayn</em>, man,” Duo replied, responding to his alternate name with ease.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was struck by Duo’s ability to clearly understand what was just said and reply in kind. He knew then Duo was the leader of this team, at least here on the streets.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo reached back and pulled Wufei forward by his arm. “This is him,” he muttered to him quickly and then grinned back at Modeko. “<em>Dis mi padi: Jackson. He noh sabi tok Krio</em>.”</p>
<p class="p1">Modeko reached out his hand and Wufei shook it in the same fashion as Duo had, and received a grin for it.</p>
<p class="p1">“‘Ow are you doing?” He asked, and Wufei was relieved he could understand even through his thick accent. This must be what Duo felt like when he was around any of the other pilots when they spoke their own languages. He believed Duo only spoke English. Apparently he knew the local language here though. Duo had said he did his recon by talking to Modeko online and over video; surely he hadn’t learned a whole language in that short amount of time?</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m doing well, thank you,” he replied with slight unease.</p>
<p class="p1">Modeko kept hold of Wufei’s hand with his soft hands in a firm grip but he looked at Duo curiously. “<em>He yu nah boi?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo stammered, chuckling nervously as Wufei looked to him for translation, but he didn’t get one. “Uh—<em>Yehs, he noh sabi yet-o</em>.”</p>
<p class="p1">Modeko nodded largely and make an enlightened and conspiratorial sound. He laughed and patted Wufei’s hand before letting it go. Wufei felt like he’d missed something. But he had no time to think about it because Modeko began to usher them down the street, leading them in a triangle formation. He talked, in English for Wufei’s benefit, about the huge tree nearby and it’s history and meaning to the people who arrived so many years ago— former slaves released back to their native continent who would rejoice in their freedom. Hence the name of Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown. They walked the streets, stopping to get water and fruit along the way, with Modeko pointing out good restaurants, landmarks, how to get to the beach, and being a good tour guide to his friends. But he must have been privy to at least some of their confidential information, because as they rounded a block corner and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, Modeko pointed out a vendor that was selling wood carved masks and other souvenirs but it wasn’t these tourist goods he talked about. He picked up a figurine of an elephant and turned it around in his hands.</p>
<p class="p1">“Da place you ask me ‘bout ‘cross da street,” he said in an easy conversational tone.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo had grabbed a stained wooden mask and put it to his face but he turned around to face the building across the street as Modeko had mentioned. Wufei turned as well, chewing languidly on a whole mango while a drip of juice ran down his wrist. The building was nondescript. Faded red-brick, few windows, no street accessible convenience door. There was no parking lot, but the loading bay was enclosed in a tall chain-link fence topped with razor wire, a few vehicles parked inside.</p>
<p class="p1">“This is the place right, Jackson?” Duo asked.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei confirmed.</p>
<p class="p1">“Perfect.” He turned back to the vendor and put the mask down. Modeko set the carving down and smiled at Duo. “<em>Tenki ya ep, </em>buddy. We really appreciate it, it’s important to us.” When Duo shook Modeko’s hand Wufei noticed the thick wad of cash in Duo’s palm disappear when they parted.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Aye, mi padi</em>. You come back see me afta you save di world.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I will.”</p>
<p class="p1">Modeko went to shake Wufei’s hand as well as the money was slid into his pocket. “<em>A de go</em>,” he said to Wufei. “Dat mean goodbye. You take care of Lindsay, hear. Make ‘im ‘appy man.” Modeko left them with a laugh and wave.</p>
<p class="p1">Left alone together on the busy streets the two looked back at the building. This was the place the chemicals had been shipped. If all their research had been done right, and nothing changed, the sodium cyanide to make the CK would be here.</p>
<p class="p1">“Pretty boring place from the outside,” Duo noted. “Razor wire though.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei agreed. “Let’s walk the perimeter.”</p>
<p class="p1">They moved along the sidewalk and slowly circled the building, keeping themselves on the other side of the street for a wider view, and took in their target.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo hummed with interest. “Not very big huh? Three stories? Betcha there’s a basement.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Coded gate.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s kids stuff. One guard though? That’s…disappointing.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, but look at him—he’s been trained. Might be more inside. See a pedestrian entry?”</p>
<p class="p1">They had walked the whole building, taken in what they needed, and began to walk away.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo stuck his hand out to Wufei as they went, and Wufei handed him the mango. He took a bite through the skin. “Oh yeah, very slick, it’s a doubled-up link in the fencing: reinforced. They don’t want anyone to know it’s there.”</p>
<p class="p1">“But no cameras.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Too much security would tip someone off they’ve got good stuff in there. Keeping a low profile <b>is</b> security sometimes. Jeez this thing is juicy,” Duo laughed and hurriedly slurped on his wrist to catch the liquid.</p>
<p class="p1">“Where are we going now?”</p>
<p class="p1">“The beach! You ever been to a beach?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I mean a beach as in doing what regular people do, not hopping ships or unloading your Gundam.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Psh, spoiled kid.”</p>
<p class="p1">The walk wasn’t long, and they enjoyed it, taking a gander into all the stalls along the street. Duo made a verbal note about things he wanted to take home before they left. They would have to buy them either on the way back to the hotel that night or in the morning before getting back on the plane. Wufei wasn’t looking forward to another lost day sitting on an airplane so incredibly quick, but they really had no time to waste getting this mission done fast and bringing the info back to Preventers. Spending so much time with Duo lately reminded him he hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time and wondered if the beach he’d said he’d been to was it.</p>
<p class="p1">The beach was crammed with people, loud with shouts and joyful screams of adults and children alike running along the sand or playing in the ocean. Radios that dotted the beach on blankets played loudly, some talk shows and some music. And mingling with the scent of the seaweed and salt water was cooking meat on small grills, roasted corn and fish on sticks, huge coolers showcasing beers, juices, and water. They stepped off the sidewalks and into the pale fine sand and Duo’s draw was dropping.</p>
<p class="p1">“Whoa! Look at this place! Oh my god what do I do first?!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Play first, then eat.” Wufei wasn’t full from the mango they shared but still would wait to eat more.</p>
<p class="p1">“When you’re right, you’re right, man—let’s fucking get soaked!” And he bolted across the beach to the water.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei followed after him at a jog, and snorted as he watched Duo jump into an incoming wave, hopping through it and making a sliding dive into the next one. Wufei kicked his shoes off unlike his partner and walked into the waves to let them lap up to his knees. It felt good, a cool temperature but nothing like the beaches near headquarters with its rocky beaches and freezing cold water. And the water cooled down his feet from the hot sand, the hot air and sun. It was even slightly breezy. He looked at the people far out in the water, a couple surfed, kids swam about on animal caricature inflatable tubes, large smiles or content ones across their faces. And why not? It was a beautiful warm day, few light wispy clouds in the sky, good music— a day of fun. The waves calmed for a moment to let him see Duo floating face up, arms out, tips of his shoes poking out of the water. His head lifted to scan the beach for Wufei.</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey! Are you coming in or what?”</p>
<p class="p1">That was all the invitation he needed, if he had been waiting for one. He walked further into the waves and let the water take him in. Duo disappeared under the water and resurfaced at his side, sputtering water out. The two laid on their backs and lazily swam down the length of the beach.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sighed happily. “Man when Une demanded I learn how to swim in order to join Preventers I thought she was stupid. Ain’t so stupid now; this is fucking great.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had to agree. He wasn’t much of a beach-goer but he realized he hadn’t relaxed in a long time, and floating here with Duo was peaceful, despite the noise of the people.</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what would be cool to do one day?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hm?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Swim with sharks.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You learned swimming as an adult, and now you want to swim with sharks.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo hummed, pleased.</p>
<p class="p1">“Stay in the water then—one will come up eventually. And then you can also say you’ve been eaten by one.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Please, you know the statistics for getting bitten or eaten by a shark? Slim to none. That’s the technical term.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei rolled his eyes at the sentiment but he smiled anyway. They continued to float for a while until Duo became restless. He decided he wanted to touch the bottom where they swam, and Wufei joined him, blinking through the initial sting of the salt water and checking out the seashells and stones beneath them. Duo was excited about the amount of fish swimming at the bottom, long silvery ones and little orange ones. They came back up for air gasping.</p>
<p class="p1">“Do those bite?”</p>
<p class="p1">“What? Which ones?” Wufei had never seen so much of Duo’s forehead and eyes before. He had swept his bangs back against the water. He also couldn’t imagine what Duo saw to make him ask that.</p>
<p class="p1">“Those ones down there. The orange and yellow and those clear ones? Any of them.”</p>
<p class="p1">“…No. What?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, I don’t know, dude. All I know is sharks bite.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Have you ever even seen a shark, or any fish, in your life?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I had a goldfish with Hilde. One of those black ones with the giant googly eyes?”</p>
<p class="p1">“…Are you trying to pet them?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo splashed him in the face. “Fuck you, don’t give me that look— of course I’m trying to pet ‘em!”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei laughed and wiped the dripping water off his brows. “You try that.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo pouted at him and took a breath before diving back down. Wufei reeled in his laughter and sucked in a breath too, but he let himself sink, crossing his legs under himself. He made no movements, calming himself and slowly falling down. He watched through blue-green as Duo swam around the large rocks, following the fish and circling in close, reaching out as close as he could get to touch. They always swam away but he was determined. Wufei closed his eyes as he felt the ocean floor meet his legs, and he settled there, finding a strange peace in the muffled quiet of the sea. He took the time to meditate, holding his breath and energy as long as he could. He hadn’t set any records, and didn’t intend to, but it was interesting for him for a couple minutes. When he opened his eyes again, Duo was sitting on his knees across from him, long braid floating around him, watching intently with that look in his eyes. The one that was concentrating, calculating, and challenging with a hint of excitement. Wufei felt like he was being undressed; his clothes, his skin, muscles. Stripped down all the way to the bone where Duo would see his exposed insides—frantically pumping heart and panting lungs. And suddenly Duo was holding his phone up, and he knew Duo had just taken a picture of him. Duo stuck his tongue out and jetted up to the surface. Wufei chased him.</p>
<p class="p1">They gasped for air again and Duo was laughing. “I’m so glad my phone’s waterproof. I’m gonna put you on my fridge, right next to Trowa when I caught him taking a nap with the lions!”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei chuckled at the image. He knew how easy it was for Trowa to get close to the lions at his circus while no one else was.</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what it’s time for? Beer. And eats! Are you hungry yet?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, let’s eat.”</p>
<p class="p1">They swam back to shore, weighed down by their soaked clothes. Duo had the added weight of his sopping braid and shoes. If the locals and tourists along the beach thought they looked like castaways escaping from a maritime disaster in their wet street clothes, nobody made any mention of it nor even stared.Wufei detoured to pick up his abandoned shoes. They went up closer to the sidewalks where the vendors dotted the edge of the beach and looked through the choices of food. Duo did all the talking, asking for prices in the local language and paying out of his wallet with wet cash. The sellers laughed about it but they took the money just the same. Wufei held the skewer of roasted shrimp and a small cardboard takeout container of something he hadn’t seen yet, while Duo also paid for two beers. Picking a sandy and shaded spot, they sat down to eat, twisting the caps off of their beers and sipping. The container held rice and what looked like a green-brown puree. Leafy and a hint of vegetables. Wufei took a spoonful of the two items together. Surprisingly good, an interesting taste. Duo ripped a shrimp off the skewer and ate it.</p>
<p class="p1">“What is this?” Wufei asked, getting another spoonful before passing it off and taking the stick of shrimps.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo made a noise as he was still chewing, wiping the corner of his mouth with his arm. “Plasas. Some kind of leaf and veg, some meat. I don’t know. I’m don’t cook much fancy stuff, but Modeko said this is their food here. Like what, they’re signature dish? Can’t come here and not try it.” He took a bite. “Ooh it’s weird…I like it.” They ate in silence for a while, drank their beers. Duo leaned back on his elbows in the sand. “This is fucking great. I’ve never been to the beach before. Never swam in the ocean. Shit. Best day of my life so far.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei chuckled. He sat with his knees up, twirling the beer bottle in his fingers. “For a swim on the beach?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hell yeah. They don’t have this stuff on the colonies. I don’t have to tell you that. Can’t even look up into the sky without seeing more colony, more metal. Not like this.”</p>
<p class="p1">“The first time I came to Earth and stepped outside, I looked at the sky and got so dizzy I threw up. It seemed so endless. Too big.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Damn. Would you ever go back to the colonies? I mean…” Duo sighed and lowered his voice. “I know your home is gone. Shit, mine’s gonna be gone soon. But would you ever live out there again?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei thought. He stared down at the mouth of the bottle and then back out at the ocean waves where people still swam happily as the sun was beginning to set. What was out there in space for him anymore? The colonies had just about the same stuff as Earth, with exceptions like beaches, natural changing weather…and many other things now that he thought about it. Like Duo said, his people were gone, destroying themselves for pride. For a big middle finger to OZ if Duo were to say it. There was no one to fight out there, no challenge, no foe. What could he do with himself on the colonies that he didn’t already do on Earth?</p>
<p class="p1">“I don’t know,” he said finally. “I’m not planning anything. Preventers is fine for now and the foreseeable future. I guess…I’m waiting.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Waiting for what?”</p>
<p class="p1">“…For something to offer me a challenge. To get me moving.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo grunted and sat up next to him. He took a long pull of the beer. “I don’t know if I could play the waiting game as long as you have. Five years with Preventers? And you think there’s more to come?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Possibly.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hm. Can I tell you something?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You can’t wait for the challenge to come to you. You can’t wait for life to just…drive you along until the tank is empty and all of a sudden it’s refuel or die. You gotta seek out your challenge. If your situation isn’t giving you what you want; if it’s not giving you enough—you blast your ass out of there and go somewhere else. How do you think I got Deathscythe? It wasn’t by sitting on my ass. I found it, Doc goes ‘yeah alright try to fly it you dumbass kid’, and—well, I mean suddenly I’m part of a big war effort, but the point is that if I’m not getting my kicks here, I’m gonna get them over there. Know what I mean?” Duo’s watched beeped quietly then and he looked at it and sighed, looking over the water. “Time to go back. I gotta shower this shit off before the op. I didn’t think it was gonna be so…sticky.” He got up and Wufei followed him, taking their things to the garbage.</p>
<p class="p1">They walked back to the hotel, closer to the city than the airport was, and Wufei thought about Duo’s “words of wisdom”. He didn’t think he was particularly bored with the Preventers. There was usually research to do, intel to gather, businesses and people to vet. Forms to fill out. …Meetings to sit through. Maybe he was bored. He’d told Duo he missed challenges, and just now on the beach he’d said it again. Something to get him moving. He was standing still at Preventers. He didn’t get to do field work often enough, certainly not like this. This assignment which turned into a truly potential threat was a fluke as far as he was concerned, and it was the most excitement he’d had since joining. With Duo at his side it was the most fun he’d had since joining. But if he lived by Duo’s advice he’d be moving on to something else. But what? Duo got himself into situations throughout his whole life, leading him from the busted streets of his colony to mobile suit warfare, through rocky relationships and now a job that catered to some of his interests. And now Duo mentioned he was getting bored by the work too. Where would he go? And when? If Duo took off into the world, would Wufei follow his lead and leave too? And where would <b>he</b> go?</p>
<p class="p1">He had to be honest with himself now. If Duo left Preventers, Wufei would have to make a choice. He would stay in his office, filling out forms and talking to Une on coffee breaks…or he would say what he needed to say, and hopefully Duo would simply take him with him. Wherever he went. If Duo wanted to go back to space, work with Howard again and live the spacer salvage life, Wufei would do it. What else was he doing with his life. The notion that Wufei would jump if Duo said so made him feel embarrassed and a little ashamed. Where was Wufei, heir to the Long clan? The scholarly warrior who would move for no man (or woman), and if they wanted to fight about it, would take them to the ground? Wufei knew he’d mellowed out some after growing up, but wow. Maybe he still had that ferocity in him, but it had been a long time since he had to show it. Office work will do that.</p>
<p class="p1">The walk was long enough for the sun to set, and the slowly dissipating heat enough to dry their clothes to bare dampness. The city was starting to get quiet. Upon entering their shared room, Duo noted, almost with disappointment, that the cup he had placed hadn’t moved. No one had gotten into their room. Duo took the shower first, and Wufei let him, he would need time to get his hair in order and dressed before going back out. There was no rush anyways. Duo disappeared into the bathroom and the shower turned on. Wufei took the time to set up what they would need for the operation. Mostly his end of it, because Duo would have his own way of doing things most likely. He moved the bedside table away from the wall to sit in front of him on the bed and he started booting up the tablets and setting them on the table. He always thought it was going to take longer to set up than it did. His headset was ready, waiting on the pillow, and Duo’s end of things were set out. He got up as the tablets loaded and went to the window, waiting for Duo to finish. He heard multiple thumps and subsequent “ow”s from the bathroom. When the shower turned off and Duo came out, he was wrapped in a towel with a second one wrapped around his hair.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re up if you want it. Showers kinda small but it’s hot water so I can’t complain.”</p>
<p class="p1">“I heard.” He pointed at the layout of equipment on the bed as he picked up his pile of clean clothes. “Those are yours for tonight.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh thanks, man.”</p>
<p class="p1">And Wufei left him to get changed. Duo was right, the stall of the shower was…just enough to fit himself in and turn. But not if he had his elbows out. The first bump into the wall and his grumble brought Duo’s voice through the door:</p>
<p class="p1">“Told ya!”</p>
<p class="p1">He showered quick enough for the small space and stepped out to dry off. He dressed again in street clothes he’d be able to go out in if something went sour and he had to chase Duo down, but he didn’t expect for that to happen. He left his hair down to air dry. When he left the bathroom, he found Duo’s back to him, all in black and standing at the window. He was braiding his hair. Duo made no comment that he even heard him come out. His fingers worked gently through it all as it hung down, twisting it together at the back of his head and down. At a certain point he bent to braid the rest of it over his shoulder as it was so long. When it was finished, he threw it back over his shoulder to flop against his back and he turned to Wufei finally. He smiled at the sight of Wufei’s hair down. And his staring. Duo moved his hand to showcase his clothes.</p>
<p class="p1">“Look like old times?”</p>
<p class="p1">He did. No rolled cuffs and priestly look, but black cargo pants with the legs tucked into heavy black boots, tight black long-sleeve that made note of his toned body tucked into the pants. He was sure Duo would have done this mission in a pair of daisy dukes if he thought Wufei would let him. He looked more special-ops than Wufei expected him to. And more…Hm. Duo had said it to him earlier. Wufei thought he could take the chance:</p>
<p class="p1">“Hotter.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sucked in a quick breath. “Ooh, very good.”</p>
<p class="p1">Now he worked on a black and white paisley bandana, pinching two ends and reaching back to cup his braid in it. It coiled in the bandana like it were a hammock, and he slid the two ends into the hair at the back of his head and out the other sides to tie a knot. His long hair was secured in it tightly. He even shook his head a little to test it. Wufei had never seen him do that before. He wondered if there was an incident recently which made him tie it up for things like this.</p>
<p class="p1">He sat on the bed and watched Duo finish setting himself up. He put the ear piece in, and tapped it to turn it on. It made a faint noise to indicate it was powered. His phone was slid into his back pocket and the flap buttoned closed. From his backpack he pulled out a small black face mask that would cover his mouth and nose, another bandana, this one black and yellow, and unrolled it on the bed to reveal a switchblade, a small zippered case, and two thin sealed plastic tubes. Duo whipped the blade out and closed it again after inspection and hooked it into a pocket on his pants. He grabbed the zippered case and tucked it into a different pocket. The brand label on the front clued Wufei in to what it was—precision tools. Probably a lock-picking set stashed inside as well. The tubes Duo snatched up and held them tight in his palm while he folded up the bandana again and put it into a pocket as well. When his hand left the pocket empty, his other hand that had been holding the tubes was suddenly empty as well.</p>
<p class="p1">“How did you get that through security?” The knife.</p>
<p class="p1">“Composite. Fiber-glass, nylon. I decided not to bring the gun. Probably won’t need it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“And you could’ve gotten it onto the plane?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Of course,” Duo smiled. “Smuggling’s my game, babe. I don’t lose at that.” He stood in his tactical blackout glory and checked his watch. “I think it’s late enough. Ready?”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei confirmed and tucked the headset over his ears, letting the headband fall backwards to his neck. The microphone was in a good position already.</p>
<p class="p1">“I was gonna jump out the window,” Duo offered. “Unless you want me to go out the front door.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei hadn’t thought about it. But the choice was obvious. “Window.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo went to it and sat on the sill with his legs out on the side of the building. Wufei handed him the yellow tinted glasses and he put them on. The video screen came to life. “Have a rope ready for me when I get back.” And he threw himself down.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Duo landed on his feet with a thump and jogged away from the hotel. The streets were dark apart from an occasional street lamp, and Duo slinked along the edges of their light when he needed to. He went in silence for a couple blocks, scanning the area as he went to check how many people roamed the streets.</p>
<p class="p1">“How’s it look?” He asked.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s voice sounded clear in his right ear. “<em>Dark. The feed looks good, just understandably dark.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Good.”</p>
<p class="p1">The roads were empty of any moving vehicles, only parked ones against and sometimes on the sidewalks. People were in their homes for the night. Duo reached for his knife without looking, and slid one of the plastic tubes out from where he’d hidden it inside his tight sleeve. He only glanced at his cuff for a second as he pulled it out, making sure he didn’t dislodge the other from it’s secure spot. Then he flicked the knife open.</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what would be great right now?” He did his best to not move his head down to look at the tube and catch it on the feed as he sliced the top open.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>What?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Music. Could go for some fucking rockin’ beats.” The knife was put away and he slid off one glove, pouring the contents of the tube into his palm into a tiny white powdery dune. The tube was tossed over his shoulder. While Wufei snickered in his ear and told him that was the worst idea, he brought his hand to his nose and inhaled deeply.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>What was that.</em>” Wufei sounded suspicious.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo moaned and sniffed hard as he rubbed his nose roughly. “Mmm, it’d still be nice,” he skirted the question.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Wha- Did you just—</em>“</p>
<p class="p1">Duo looked down to put his glove on correctly again and glanced around the street again. He’d never stopped walking. He sniffed again.</p>
<p class="p1">“I did.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>MAXWELL!</em>” Wufei exploded in his ear. “<em>It’s one thing to do your drugs at home—you cannot be intoxicated on a mission!</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Just needed a little pick-me-up. Helps me focus more.” He jogged by someone on the street and he gave them a two-fingered salute. “<em>Kushe</em>,” he greeted as they passed and they returned it.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>A “pick-me-up”,</em>” Wufei whispered in exasperation. “Y<em>ou are going to blow this. I should pull you out right now and we go home. We’ll send another team in.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo rolled his eyes. “You can’t stop me now, I’m gonna be there in fifteen minutes. And you can’t catch me. It’s gonna be fine.” His heart started pumping faster than what was normal for a light jog and he grinned. He started chuckling to himself. It was coming.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Dammit! I-</em>“</p>
<p class="p1">“I did speed on all our missions in the war, man, and you didn’t even know. And I did just fucking fine, didn’t I? I’ll cut off your feed if you keep going on about it.”</p>
<p class="p1">He heard the resigned sigh in his ear, frustrated. “<em>Expect your ass to be reamed when you get back. This isn’t over.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Mmm! I like the sound of that.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei didn’t reply. Duo knew he was pissed, maybe more than just that, and probably turned off his microphone for a second just so he could scream about it. He giggled, feeling the tingling under his skin and a wave of joy rush over him. He loved seeing Wufei angry. He continued to jog, getting faster and faster the closer he got to the facility until he was sprinting, cackling the whole way. He ignored Wufei’s commands that he stay quiet. He was in the streets, who cared? He wasn’t that loud, just having a good time. The wind felt good on his face, running around in the dark was fun.</p>
<p class="p1">He stopped at the edge of the block, hand on a building to hold him up while he caught his breath, but there it was: the facility in all it’s boring glory. He just edged along the circle of light on the pavement from a street lamp, watching quietly for a moment. The block didn’t even look the same—the vendors were gone, stalls empty of their goods, not a single soul around.</p>
<p class="p1">“Place is a fucking ghost-town,” he whispered. “They really roll up the streets at night, huh?” And then what he’d been waiting for arrived. A guard walked the perimeter, outside the gate and building. Duo focused in. It was game time. In the darkness Duo mimicked the guards walk from across the street, keeping pace with him and watching carefully. Two pistols: one on the hip, one strapped to the chest. Around half the block, Duo stopped following him to look back at the gated loading bay, debating on taking his chance to get in now…but he had to see this guy’s routine beat. He darted across the street as soon as the guard turned the corner. He stepped gently to the edge, listening to a creak of metal and peeked around the corner. Down the sidewalk the guard stepped down and disappeared behind a metal door seemingly into the ground. It creaked shut. Duo glanced around and ran over to it. The door was built flat into the sidewalk right against the base of the red-brick building.</p>
<p class="p1">“There’s a fucking hatch here. That’s how they get in and out at night. We couldn’t fucking see it because of all the people.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Are you going to take it?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“Might be the safest way in.” He turned away and ran down the pavement, turning the corner to the vehicle gate.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>What are you doing?</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo knelt by the call box at the gate and fished his case of tools out. “He might be right there by the door when I open it—gotta make sure he’s not.”</p>
<p class="p1">After a quick few seconds with the screws, the front casing of the metal box popped open at the corner and he pulled it away to reveal the inside’s wires and microchips. He put his tools away and worked on the wires, tracing where specific ones led with his gloved fingers and ripping two out of their ports. Of the two lights on the box, the red one started blinking and a second later Duo heard a faint alarm beeping from inside the building. Taking that as his cue he scampered away into the dark again, waiting where the fencing and building met. The guard came running out of the only entrance door within, pistol drawn and searching. Duo left him to it and hustled around to the hatch. It was heavy to open, but he knew also that it squeaked, so he moved it slowly and fit himself through the black opening by the smallest crack possible. He closed it carefully behind him. He got into his pockets again and got out his mask, fitting it around his face and securing it around his head. The fumes from the sodium cyanide were lethal if inhaled, and would slowly burn your lungs from the inside out with poison. If was going to find it, he couldn’t take the chance.</p>
<p class="p1">Steep stairs awaited him, leading down to a faintly lit area. He followed them silently. The room beyond was gigantic, walls lined with barrels, aisles of pallets holding boxes, crates.</p>
<p class="p1">“Jesus,” Duo whispered. “Lotta shit.” He walked along the aisles, looking up at the boxes and trying to find labels. There was a faint rumbling from above, probably some machine they leave running overnight for their refinery. The alarm was clearer in the basement, but Duo noted when it went silent.</p>
<p class="p1">“He turned the alarm off. He’ll be back soon.” Just as he said it, he heard the thump and clack of the door up top slam shut. The guard was in the building upstairs. “Time to move.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Be careful.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">He pulled his knife out again, flicking it open and cutting into the nearest box. He had to move quickly. Any new label, new type of container, Duo sliced open a little to check the contents. The words on them made no sense to him, most were just company labels or logos.</p>
<p class="p1">“None of these fucking things are in English! I can’t read any of it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Have you ever thought about learning another language? You’re so incredibly American.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo reached into a box and dug around, pulling out a foil package and ripping it open. It wasn’t what he was looking for. “I learned Krio for this mission in two weeks, I don’t wanna hear your shit. And I speak Spanish too! Fifth biggest language in the world, man.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>I have never heard you speak Spanish.”</em></p>
<p class="p1">Another box was already open and he flipped aside the flaps. Still not what they wanted.</p>
<p class="p1">“You ain’t given me the chance to romance you with it yet, <em>Papi.”</em></p>
<p class="p1">Wufei huffed through his earpiece and Duo snickered. “<em>Please focus.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">He was going as fast as was possible, efficient in his cutting and checking of items and moving on to the next one. In a far corner he reached the line of barrels, walking around them to find a name. He found nothing but some kind of Asian characters. Whatever. He grabbed the lid of one, put his boot on it’s side for leverage, and pulled. The lid peeled away from it’s sticky under-seal and Duo set it on the floor, using his knife to part the folded plastic inside. There were white round briquets inside, nearly the size of a hockey puck. Duo’s eyes widened.</p>
<p class="p1">“This is it.” He reached in and grabbed one in his gloved hand, and then twirled around to count the other barrels that matched this one. “You seeing this?”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>I see it</em>,” Wufei breathed.</p>
<p class="p1">“There’s so many. Holy hell. This ain’t even all of it.”</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Take that with you, we need something to show Une</em>.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Roger.” The black and yellow bandana made its appearance and Duo carefully wrapped the white puck in it and stowed it away. He took the lid and replaced it, doing his best to shut it tightly again. The people making the CK may be evil bastards, but Duo knew the others just worked here. He couldn’t let the people who merely shipped and moved these things die from the dust they’d breathe in if he left it open.</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what kind of Asian this is?” He backed up to let his glasses record the type on the barrel.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Yes: it’s mine</em>.”</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s unbelievably lucky. What’s it say?” Duo listened to Wufei’s quiet breaths, keeping his head still for the camera.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>I’m not sure, it’s incomplete. Take pictures of it all. I’ll read it when you get back.</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“On it.” He knelt down and popped the button on his back pocket to get his phone out. He centered the first bit of type through the lens and tapped the button to take the picture. The camera shutter sound clicked loudly through the quiet room.</p>
<p class="p1">“Oops.” He moved to turn the sound off and shift to the next set of type to photograph.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Dammit, Duo.</em>” Duo could practically hear Wufei dropping his face in his hands.</p>
<p class="p1">It wasn’t an issue though—no one else was down there with him. He finished circling the barrel and taking the pictures and stowed his phone again. He stood up and started off to the steep stairwell leading to the hatch.</p>
<p class="p1">“We gotta go; do you want anything else down here?” He heard the squeak of the hatch but had already stepped into view by the time it registered. Whatever Wufei had been saying in reply was drowned out by the surprise of the guard spotting him.</p>
<p class="p1">“‘EY!”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo’s body snapped into action, moving before he could really even recognize the situation, and jumped out of the doorway of the stairs. A deafening bang exploded and echoed in the room and Duo’s ears rang. He ducked behind a stack of crates. His heart hammered in his chest and he crouched back against the crate, shaking his head to clear the disorientation he felt from the noise.</p>
<p class="p1">“Jesus man, you can’t shoot that in here!” He cried out, not honestly looking for a conversation, but mostly to himself.</p>
<p class="p1">“<em>Duo, get out of there!</em>”</p>
<p class="p1">But Duo was already moving, springing away as he heard the guards boots pound against the concrete floor towards him. His sight was blurry around the edges, laser focused on his path. All attempts for stealth would be moot, it was time to hustle. He dodged through an aisle of pallets and made for the only other door. He hopped the stairs and heard the guard yell after him, slamming through the metal door and into the main floor of the facility. He didn’t have time to look around the place at the huge machine and it’s pipes lining the walls, its rumbling suddenly roaring in his ear. Ahead of him across the building were the loading doors and the single pedestrian entry, and he bolted for it, kicking it open to smash against the brick wall as the guard barreled out of the basement. Another shot rang out and hit the wall, Duo ducked at the noise but kept running, between two vans and across the pavement of the loading dock. He barely saw the reinforced gate hidden along the fencing, but he ran past it. There would be no time to try to pry it open. He sucked in a deep breath and jumped at the fence, scrambling up the side. He twisted at the top, sliding his head and shoulders between the loops of the razor wire and pulled himself up and over, trying to bend himself in half to get his feet down for a good landing. A razor snagged into his pant leg and pulled him back, and he reached back to yank on it, but he couldn’t keep from twisting and hooking other razors into his sleeve. They sliced into his arm as he struggled to untangle himself.</p>
<p class="p1">He whispered in panic mostly to himself. “Fuck! I’m fucking stuck!”</p>
<p class="p1">He could hear that Wufei was yelling into his microphone but he just couldn’t make it out, the blood pounded through his ears. The guard ran out across the bay after him, Duo saw him in the edge of his sight, gun up and ready to shoot again. Duo was a sitting duck. Last ditch effort he laced his gloved fingers behind him in the fence and pushed against it, sliding the razor wire through his pants with a shredding noise and suddenly being loose and unbalanced enough to plummet down the other side of the fence, landing on his back on the sidewalk with a hard thump. The wind was knocked out of his lungs at the force and his vision was dark and swimming, but he groaned and stumbled to his knees and up, limping into a run across the street and away from the facility. The guard was tangling with the gate, the fence jangling, but Duo sprinted into the dark and up through the neighborhoods, leaving him behind. He could barely see, colors popping through his sight in the blackness of the night, but he ran full tilt, breath heaving with the effort. The euphoria he’d felt earlier had evaporated with the rush of the chase, and he knew his high was draining just as quickly. He couldn’t stop to think, but his arm ached already, tensed from the effort of the run and stinging from the razor cuts. His adrenaline kept him going all the way to the hotel where a white rope hung down from the window, and he jumped up and grabbed onto it, putting in the last of his energy to haul himself up.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Wufei reached down to him from the window and Duo grabbed his offered hand, hissing through his teeth at the movement and letting Wufei drag him up and over the sill. Duo dropped onto his hands and knees gasping.</p>
<p class="p1">“Were you followed?” Wufei stepped over him and pulled the bedsheet rope inside. He noticed the streaks of blood staining it. Duo didn’t speak, still catching his breath, and he fell onto his side. His face pinched and he howled, cursing. Wufei knelt down to him and grabbed at his neck and hip, trying to haul him up.</p>
<p class="p1">“Get up. Come on, get on the bed.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo did his best to do his part, crawling up and over to the bed, letting himself be sat on the edge. His head hung down and body wavered back and forth in small circles. Weakly he untucked his shirt and pulled it over his head, groaning. He ripped the mask down and threw the glasses on the floor. The bandana holding up his braid was untied and thrown in the same place.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei had come from the bathroom with a wet washcloth and took Duo’s wrist, lifting the arm streaked with blood and starting to gently wipe it away.</p>
<p class="p1">“I can do it,” Duo croaked, his eyes barely open.</p>
<p class="p1">“No, you can’t, Wufei said flatly.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo tried to pull away and Wufei tightened his grip. “Stop, man!” Suddenly his eyes started to roll back and Wufei had to pull his arm to keep him from falling onto the stripped bed. He reached out to catch Wufei’s shirt in his fist, panting. “…Crashing,” he stammered, barely able to say it at all.</p>
<p class="p1">The combination of the adrenaline and high comedown was probably wreaking havoc on his system, unable to function properly. Wufei couldn’t do anything about it other than watch it go down. He continued to clean the blood away from his arm to see the cuts, taking his T-shirt from the beach and tearing it into pieces to wrap the wounds with. They wouldn’t do anything other than collect the blood but it was something. He was shaking his head to himself, anger building up again now that Duo was at least safe in the hotel room.</p>
<p class="p1">“I should’ve known. I should’ve known I couldn’t trust you not to bring that here! Taking a hit while on a mission?!”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo leaned on his side, shakily reaching his cut and “bandaged” arm into his backpack. He revealed a small bottle of painkillers. Normal over the counter painkillers. The stretch over his ribs made him hold back a rough groan, and Wufei started to clean the blood there. A blade had sliced him open to the bone. He’d need stitches when they got back to Headquarters. Wufei knew he was going to hate the briefing that would follow it. Duo fumbled with his pills and choked them down dry.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was getting angrier by the second. “I have to report you to Une,” he said quietly, astounded at what he was saying himself. “She knows something’s up with you— I’ve been hiding it from her to keep you safe!”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo winced, hands balled into hard fists as Wufei pressed the cloth over the laceration. “Just keep doing it,” he hissed. “Nobody has to know.”</p>
<p class="p1">His hand flew to the tablets, pointing at them. “These systems recorded everything, Maxwell!”</p>
<p class="p1">“Psh, that’s easy to edit.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You could have died tonight.” Wufei was taking Duo’s damp shirt from the day as well, tying it’s strips together for a long makeshift bandage for his ribs.</p>
<p class="p1">“It wouldn’t have been from the coke.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh really?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Oh, come on—you saw it!” Duo shouted, the crash not completely over, but he was somewhat more coherent. “I was being shot at! There’s a piece of fucking poison in my pocket the size of a bar of soap!”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo was wrapped up as well as he could be with thin cotton tees and Wufei grabbed a bottle of water from the top of the dresser and handed it to him. He drank deeply, the bottle crinkling and collapsing in on itself as the water was sucked out, some of it leaked from the corners of his mouth. He panted when he stopped and wiped the water away with his wrist. “Why are you so fucking stuck on this? You’re always on my back about it! It doesn’t fucking concern you!”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei stood in the doorway of the bathroom, tossing the bloodied washcloth behind him into the sink. His rage boiled to its limit now. “You want me to just watch you poison yourself from the inside out you- you <b>fucking moron</b>?! You won’t feel better ever by continuing to dope! Every single moment you’re not high you’ll remember why you’re so fucking sad and then you’ll do another line to forget about it, and then another line, and another, until you’re so used up you won’t even know who you are anymore! Do you even know who you are when you’re sober? Or do you think you’re only yourself when you’re high, like Hilde? Is that who you want to be? A goddamn empty shell of a person—someone who only exists in- in- in a fine white powder?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo growled and threw the near empty bottle at Wufei, but he dodged it easily. “Don’t fucking talk about Hilde like you know what happened to me! You have no idea!” He snarled, jaw clenched and Wufei thought he looked like a wild animal. “None of you do! You all want me to be this happy sap no matter what happens: It scares the shit out of you when I’m not, but if I try to make myself happy all of you hate it!” He was standing, weak on his feet and wobbling, but he had to make his stand now. “None of you actually know me! None of you <b>want</b> to know me. You wanna keep making the blows and let the punches roll of my back. That’s what I’ve always been—your fucking punching bag! Your fucking toy.”</p>
<p class="p1">None of this was true. It couldn’t be. Wufei never saw whatever it was Duo saw with them. Maybe it was his experience with Hilde, with Heero, the war, any of it, eating away at him, but Wufei couldn’t have imagined the unadulterated hate that twisted Duo now, making him snarl and bite like this. His eyes raged but a thin streak of a tear escaped down one cheek.</p>
<p class="p1">“You all want to grind me up and make me into this fucking image that fits <b>you</b> best, what <b>you</b> want, but when <b>I</b> want to change, when <b>I</b> want to be the one in charge of me, you drop me like I’m trash! L2 trash. ‘Where’s the smile, Duo? Where’s the laughs?’” He mocked and then scowled. “I’m done fucking laughing.”</p>
<p class="p1">His chest heaved with the effort, standing and shouting, using up the last bits of energy he held onto. He stared into Wufei’s black eyes, daring him to try and smooth this over. He took one wobbly step forward to him and cried out, dropping to his knees and his hand reaching back to his calf. The leg of his pants had been ripped open by the razor wire, revealing a long jagged cut from the struggle to escape. He pressed his forehead into the carpet and groaned. Wufei went back for the washcloth and started to kneel at his side to start cleaning up the blood, but when Duo heard him near he pushed him back by his legs, glaring.</p>
<p class="p1">“Get the fuck off me. Let it bleed.” They locked eyes again. “You got nothing to say? Just gonna stare at me like I’m a fucking beast in a cage?”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo was a beast, Wufei knew now, he was a beast of pure wrath, but the cage had been ripped open and he was roaming free.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo released a snide laugh at Wufei’s silence. “That’s right: when you don’t fight with your bullshit, you fight with your fists. Come on,” he goaded lowly. “That’s what you want right? Beat some sense into me?” He sighed and sat up tall on his knees, looking up at Wufei. “Just hit me. You get one night to use me like a rag doll, just like everyone else. After this…I’ll never let you get another chance.”</p>
<p class="p1">“No,” Wufei breathed. “I never wanted to hurt you. You’re hurt enough.”</p>
<p class="p1">The brave face Duo had been putting forward softened, and he looked lost. He looked down at the floor, Wufei’s shoes blurry, and pressed his bloody hand on his face, smearing it. Wufei watched his ribcage hitch. He didn’t look up again.</p>
<p class="p1">“Then what do you want?” Duo’s voice was thick, a hint of nervous laughter in it.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei pursed his lips, teeth clenched as he looked down at the back of Duo’s head. What else could he say that would make this right? This had to be it. It’s all it could be, in Wufei’s mind. Duo didn’t need someone to take care of him, he never needed anyone to do that; he’d always helped himself because it was all he had. He needed no guardian, it was clear. He needed- wanted- someone to stand next to him, not in front. Wufei’s heart had raged only a minutes ago about the cocaine, it pained with Duo’s fury, now it jumped with fear. He couldn’t even believe that it was his hand that reached out and slipped his fingers into Duo’s hair.</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what I want,” he said softly. Duo had to have noticed, he wasn’t blind. He wasn’t stupid.</p>
<p class="p1">A rush of air left Duo, almost a pant. Wufei saw the droplet of a tear fall to the floor. “Say it,” his voice cracked. “Fucking say it.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei’s heart thumped so loud in his ears he was sure Duo could hear it too. His arms and legs shook weakly. He’d felt fear before, uncertainty and exposure, but this was different. There was no backing out of this situation, nowhere to run. If Duo scorned him now, he’d have to deal with that embarrassment right then and there. And all the way home. Everything would change between them. Everything would change anyway.</p>
<p class="p1">“I want you. Whatever you really are.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Jesus,” Duo gasped, sniffled. He grasped up Wufei’s jeans, pulling himself against him and pressing his face into Wufei’s stomach, holding the back of his shirt in his fists. His body shook in a silent cry.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei held the back of his head and laid a firm hand between his shoulders, at a loss for what to say. He didn’t think there was anything he could say, nor should say, but to just let Duo vent his build up of emotions against him. He only held him and rubbed his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t have imagined this as the outcome when he’d finally told Duo, and he wondered how it could have different. If they hadn’t been fighting only minutes before, if Duo hadn’t laid out all his frustration on him about his pain. He imagined in normal circumstances, Duo would have laughed. ‘Yeah?’ He’d say. ‘Took you long enough, man.’ It hadn’t even been that long. He imagined Duo’s sense of time ran by fast.</p>
<p class="p1">It took a few minutes, but Duo eventually calmed, sniffing wetly. The hands fisted in the back of his shirt loosened and pressed up against his back, fingers splayed and holding him to push his face harder on his stomach. Despite the circumstances, Wufei’s heart sped up again at the touch.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo sighed and whispered, “I’m so tired.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei agreed. It had been a full day of travel, sightseeing, infiltrating, arguing, and with Duo’s double crash he knew the man had to be exhausted. And they had to be on a plane back to Headquarters in six hours. It would be a rough morning.</p>
<p class="p1">“Help me up?”</p>
<p class="p1">He did. Getting down to pull Duo’s good arm over his shoulder and help him limp to the bed. Duo wheezed as he crawled over it and laid face-down on the bare mattress, he groaned as he settled. His wounds were probably burning, the one over his ribs especially. But when he laid down and exposed his back, Wufei saw the bruising that already blossomed over the entirety of his spine. Duo had landed flat on his back after falling from the top of the fence. Wufei remembered the sound of the fleshy thick thud and Duo’s air being knocked out of him through the headset. He couldn’t believe Duo had the ability to get up and run for almost three miles after that. Wufei leaned across the bed and lightly brushed his finger tips over the deep purple skin. Duo twitched at the touch, head shifting and humming in question.</p>
<p class="p1">“Your back is bruised.” That was an understatement.</p>
<p class="p1">“I fell pretty hard out there. Hurts,” he muttered.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei was sure it would hurt worse in the morning. He got up and went to turn the lights off, ignoring the whirlwind mess of the room for now for some sleep. He navigated his way back to the bed in the pitch black and laid down. He blew out a long breath quietly, staring up at the ceiling as his eyes adjusted to the dark. What a day. He was exhausted too, but his mind was going to be slow to shut down for the night.</p>
<p class="p1"> </p><hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">The morning came too fast. Wufei felt like he’d just closed his eyes and already his watch beeped insistently. He groggily sat up and turned it off, sitting there for a minute with his eyes closed. The sun hadn’t even risen yet, but it was coming soon. He got up and quietly undressed, changing again into the clothes he’d worn on the plane ride in. The one’s from the night before had gotten bloody from Duo’s grasp. He pulled up his pants and sat on the bed again, turning the shirt in his grasp to see the now browned fingerprints twisted into it. The skin on the back of his neck tingled and he looked over his shoulder. Duo lay there, watching him.</p>
<p class="p1">“Time to get up.” He said quietly.</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah.”</p>
<p class="p1">Duo moaned and wobbled as he sat up, hissing in pain when he tried to stretch his back. He went to the bathroom, blinded the both of them with a flick of the light switch, and turned to see his back in the mirror.</p>
<p class="p1">“Holy shit…you weren’t kidding.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re going to have to see a doctor when we get back.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Maybe,” Duo tried to shrug.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei didn’t fight back that yes he certainly needed to see a doctor, too tired to argue and he thought Duo probably would go in his own time. They had to clean the room up before they could sit and talk about anything. Wufei unknotted the rope of bedsheets he’d made and remade the bed, even with the dried blood on them. When they left Wufei would go to the front desk and explain vaguely that they would need to pay for the sheets. On Preventers tab. Duo had very slowly begun to change clothes, stuffing his ripped and bloody ones in the suitcase. The briquet of sodium cyanide was still wrapped up in the pocket of his pants, he’d slept with it, but he let it stay there and wrapped the pants around it too, stowing it away. He found his long sleeve from the mission flung into the corner, and the last tube of cocaine that had fallen out of it. Wufei watched him pick it up from the corner of his eye but he turned away to shove the table back against the wall so he didn’t have to see whatever Duo would do with it. He didn’t hear any sounds of usage. It might have been the one and only time Wufei wouldn’t get upset about Duo taking a sniff—he was surely in a lot of pain—but then again the effects lasted such a short time that it would hardly be useful on the flight back. He’d comedown again and feel worse. Upon Duo’s request the tablets were stashed in his backpack instead of the suitcase. He was going to edit the recordings on the long plane ride. If Une watched it uncut…honestly Wufei didn’t know what would happen. Reprimanding, write-ups (he always rolled his eyes at those), leave-without-pay, possible termination. Duo would definitely be fired, but Wufei wasn’t sure Duo would care in the least. It would free him up to go away again. Wherever he pleased. Even after last night, <b>because</b> of last night, Wufei didn’t want him to leave. Not without him. He couldn’t imagine how he had felt that way so quickly.</p>
<p class="p1">When they packed and left the hotel, Duo sat in the keke to the airport stiffly, unable to lean back on the seat during the bumpy ride without hurting his back more. In the security lines of the airport Wufei kept a steadying hand on Duo’s good arm to keep him from wavering. He was blinking slowly, talking in subdued tones. He was still drained. Duo didn’t complain about the help and Wufei did his best to keep his helping at a minimum. Duo had been through worse than this most likely and had to get through it himself, he was no child. Duo scrounged in his bag for the painkillers in line at the terminal. He let Duo take the window seat again, and immediately fell asleep after take-off, which Duo grumbled in pain as he was pressed back into his seat, but also had that small smirk on his face until they leveled out. He leaned barely against the wall of the plane instead of on Wufei’s shoulder, and he even apologized for it, but it hurt too much to lean the other way and stretch the cut on his side. And he slept the eleven hours until their changeover in Brussels.</p>
<p class="p1">On the plane back to America, to Preventer Headquarters after that, Wufei did his share of sleeping. Duo had pulled out the tablets and his laptop and connected them, opening a video editing system and slowly going through it all. His earphones were in, his computer keys clicked softly under his fingers, and he watched the video carefully. Duo whispered to him just before he fell asleep that it was the strangest deja-vu to see it all again through the eyes of the camera glasses.</p>
<p class="p1">“How did you not get whiplash just from watching this? Or throw up? It’s so dizzy.”</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei snorted quietly. “I was too pissed at you to care.” He didn’t say he was also beside himself with fear that Duo wouldn’t make it out alive.</p>
<p class="p1">Duo snickered and put his earphone back in, letting Wufei sleep.</p>
<p class="p1">The clacking woke him up after some time, a faint <em>click-click</em> at quick regular intervals. Wufei opened his eyes and stretched his neck from leaning his head back, looking over at the laptop screen. Duo was still working on the recording he thought, but Duo wasn’t looking at the footage. He gazed out the porthole window over the clouds, fingers of one hand resting on the keys, and again without looking, he double tapped a key, listening. The video feed showed the hotel room floor, and on the edge of the screen were Wufei’s legs, Duo’s hunched and half-naked body kneeling at his feet. Wufei felt his cheeks tingle. He hadn’t turned off the recording when he pulled Duo to safety. Their entire fight had been recorded, and chance let it be that he could see them through the glasses Duo had thrown on the floor. One screen, Duo’s bloody hand touched his face. Wufei’s fingers weaved into his brown hair, and Duo’s mouth moved minutely. The keys clicked again and the footage rewound to see them do it again. Wufei watched the recorded Duo’s mouth move carefully. ‘Say it. Fucking say it’ his lips read. His eyes were wide, clearly fearful, and he panted silently with his mouth hanging open. Wufei was able to see the tear fall directly from his eye to the floor. He looked up at Duo beside him suddenly to see him still watching the clouds drift by. Duo was listening to Wufei say he wanted him. Over and over.</p>
<p class="p1">He gently pulled one bud from Duo’s ear, startling him, and put it into his own ear, but he stared at the bottom of the seat in front of him. Duo clicked again and the section started over. Wufei listened, thinking it was familiar to hear Duo speak the same words again, but he could barely recognize his own voice shrouded in quiet fear. Duo didn’t look at him but at the screen. He didn’t rewind it a second time. Duo swiped around the screen and opened a folder of music, and a soft and slow ambient piano song began to play, letting Wufei listen in through one ear. Wufei kept his head down and Duo put his head back.</p>
<p class="p1">“Took you long enough,” he said in a hushed voice.</p>
<p class="p1">Wufei chuckled.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>No I have never been to Sierra Leone and it shows, and if I've offended or upset someone with my BS, I am truly sorry. I didn't want to go full out description because of my lack of experience, and I honestly did a lot of research on the language (Krio) to do my best with it. But if you know Krio, definitely hit me up and tell me what I did wrong, and I will fix it! I was worried about including the language itself rather than merely putting in the translation in italics but I really wanted to include it for how interesting it is, and for story purposes.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Immediately upon landing, Wufei’s phone beeped.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p1">
    <em>Brief me on the situation in my </em>
  </p>
  <p class="p1">
    <em> office when you land.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">He groaned and rolled his eyes, hitching Duo’s backpack over his shoulder. Duo stood beside him at the baggage claim, waiting for the suitcase.</p><p class="p1">“The commander wants a briefing.”</p><p class="p1">“Right now? Jesus, it’s like she’s spying on us. We haven’t even gone home yet.”</p><p class="p1">The suitcase appeared and Duo automatically bent for it and then stood up wincing. Wufei grabbed it off the carousel and let Duo pull it behind them to his Jeep. He also drove them to Headquarters.</p><p class="p1">When they pulled into a parking spot, Duo climbed out slowly. Wufei opened the back and the suitcase, beginning to switch the clothes there out and the tablets in. He’d have to show Une the video, unless she wanted to watch it in her own time later. He came across the sealed plastic tube in Duo’s backpack and shoved it aside after holding it up, thinking. He wasn’t going to throw it away. Duo would have to make that choice for himself, if he ever did.</p><p class="p1">“Hey.” Duo came around to the back as Wufei closed it. He seemed hesitant. “I- …Do I have to be at the brief?”</p><p class="p1">“Not necessarily.”</p><p class="p1">He kicked the toe of his shoe at the pavement. “It’s just…if I have to talk anything that happened, I mean, I was there, I remember it all but…The thought process was different. I might let something slip if I gotta explain myself. I uh- I was gonna see a doc about my back and stuff.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei agreed. Une didn’t know Duo’s idiosyncrasies very well, but she was perceptive and if anything sounded strange to her, she might ask more questions neither of them wanted to answer. They agreed to meet again so Duo could drop Wufei off at his apartment, and went separate ways.</p><p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">“Come.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei let himself into the office on the command, greeting Une as he entered.</p><p class="p1">“Chang,” she greeted as he shut the door and went to sit one of the two visitor seats in front of her desk. “Where’s Maxwell?”</p><p class="p1">“He won’t be coming—he’s seeing the doctors. There was an incident.”</p><p class="p1">Her face turned serious, if it ever hadn’t been, and she sat down in her chair. “Then let’s go over it.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei sighed and dug into the suitcase for the tablet. Duo had finished the editing and saved it over with their edited version. Duo swore no one would be able to tell anything had ever happened besides what they saw. And then he retrieved the yellow and black bandana that held the white poison and set it on the desk in front of her.</p><p class="p1">“We found the sodium cyanide shipments- some of them, as planned.” He gestured to the package and she looked between it and him with alarm. “Don’t open it,” he warned.</p><p class="p1">“You brought it back?”</p><p class="p1">“Only this one. There were barrels full of it just like this. I thought you’d like proof.”</p><p class="p1">The commander eyed the wrapping warily and then composed herself again. “What about Maxwell’s incident? How badly is he hurt?”</p><p class="p1">You have no idea. But Wufei wasn’t going to say that. “He’ll be okay. A guard got involved and Duo had to escape—he has some lacerations, a bad fall bruised his spine, some blood-loss, but he made it out. He’s getting it checked out right now.”</p><p class="p1">“I see. He’s always been reckless. What else?”</p><p class="p1">“The barrels were labeled with a manufacturer name based in China, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where the cyanide originated. And if it’s a dummy company again…I’m not sure. Duo and I will work something out, I’m sure. It was all recorded, if you want to see it.” He raised the tablet from his lap.</p><p class="p1">She reached for it but set it aside on the desk. She folded her hands in her lap and leaned back. “And what did you think of Maxwell’s prowess on this mission? An unbiased professional opinion. I know you are close, but if he’s truly not fit for action like this, I need to know. There could be more operations in the future that require great skill and experience, and while I know he <b>is</b> experienced, I’m not confident in his methods. This isn’t guerrilla warfare.”</p><p class="p1">He already couldn’t be unbiased because he knew he wouldn’t tell her about the coke. He wouldn’t say ‘sure he did a good job, you just gotta keep him off the powder’. When he had said earlier that he would report Duo for it. That all evaporated with his confession afterwards. He felt like a fool.</p><p class="p1">“Anyone who would work with him in the future would have to get used to his way of working. Even I have difficulties with him sometimes. For the majority of the trip, he led this op, not me.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh?”</p><p class="p1">He wondered if he should’ve said that. He was supposed to be the leader and ranking officer between the two of them. But, he could gas her up about his capabilities. “He learned the local language in two weeks, and made a contact who was able to bring us right to the facility. He was the one to figure out the creation of the CK and we traced it together. He was the only one who could’ve gotten into the building and out in such a short time with the correct information. He’s energetic to say the least, and likes to run by his own train of thought, his own rules, but he gets the job done. And in this case: extremely well.”</p><p class="p1">“The Gundam pilots all seem to be leaders in their own right,” Une noted in agreement. “Making decisions without a group to confer and plan with. But can he be led? Does he take to authority well?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei shrugged. “Whenever it was required he seemed to follow a plan and coordinate well with us. He may challenge an opinion when he disagrees, but he still will bend to facts and rank…if he trusts their authority and capabilities enough.”</p><p class="p1">Une hummed flatly. “You liked working with him.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes. He makes it fairly easy.” Except when he’s snorting cocaine while running down the street in the middle of the night.</p><p class="p1">“Alright. Well,” she tapped the tablet with her pen. “I’ll be watching the mission tonight when I have time. You find the company selling this…” her pen pointed to the wrapped brick of cyanide. “…stuff. Notify me of any breakthroughs.”</p><p class="p1">“Of course.”</p><p class="p1">“And dispose of that. I don’t know how but I’ll leave it up to you.”</p><p class="p1">He took the bandana wrapped poison and put it in his pocket as he left. He didn’t know what he could do to dispose of it, but he knew he could just…give it to someone. He headed off to the vaults first to return the equipment, and then to Munitions.</p><p class="p1">The munitions hangar was loud with trucks moving crates of, Wufei assumed, bombs. It could be cases of bullets or anything for all he knew. He walked around to find a glimpse of Trowa among them, and when he couldn’t, he asked an officer shouting directions and pointing out places to unload the goods. He was in his office.</p><p class="p1">He opened the door to Trowa’s office, digging the package out of his pocket. “Trowa, I need you to take—Oh!”</p><p class="p1">Trowa sat in his chair, workers coveralls sleeves tied around his waist. A muscular red-headed woman sat on the end of the desk, one leg over her knee. She broke off her words at Wufei’s entrance and glared at him with irritation.</p><p class="p1">“Excuse me, I should have knocked.”</p><p class="p1">“It’s fine,” Trowa soothed. He looked up at the woman. “I guess we’ll finish this later.”</p><p class="p1">She puffed out a breath at the dismissal, but stood and went to the door, flipping her thick wavy ponytail off her sculpted shoulder. She wore the same coveralls as Trowa, unzipped down the front. The embroidered name over her breast read ‘Joshua’. She pushed by him and closed the door behind her.</p><p class="p1">“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Wufei said, a little embarrassed that he must have walked in on something important. He didn’t know why he didn’t think to knock. He didn’t expect Trowa to entertain many visitors in his office.</p><p class="p1">“You didn’t. We can talk anytime. What did you need?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei set the soft fabric on the desk. “I need you to take this. It’s sodium cyanide from the mission.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa’s eyebrows peaked in the barest indication of interest.</p><p class="p1">“I thought you might have a use for it, or at least know how to dispose of it.”</p><p class="p1">“I know someone I can sell it to.”</p><p class="p1">“Please don’t say that. This whole assignment is based on the sale of it as a chemical weapon.”</p><p class="p1">Trowa grabbed it and put it away in a drawer of the desk. “It’s taken care of.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei squinted suspiciously. “I no longer feel confident about giving it to you.”</p><p class="p1">“I wouldn’t worry about it.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei sighed but Trowa ignored it.</p><p class="p1">“Did Duo tell you about the club?”</p><p class="p1">“What about it?”</p><p class="p1">Trowa put his feet on the desk, lacing his fingers together over his belly. “I’ve invited Duo and Quatre to a club event in a week. Now I’m inviting you.”</p><p class="p1">“At Dirty? I don’t imagine you ever being at a nightclub.”</p><p class="p1">“This is a special occasion. It’s another place though, a larger venue.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei looked up and down at Trowa, almost not believing his ears that Trowa would be attending a nightclub event. There was the faintest snide smile on his face. He was hiding something, Wufei was sure. He felt uneasy under that gaze. He’d go, but he would be asking Duo some questions. He did like the last time he went out with Duo like that. He didn’t want to seem too eager suddenly to jump at the chance. But with Duo’s injuries, he wasn’t sure he would go.</p><p class="p1">“If Duo’s feeling better by then and wants to go, then I will.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh? Did the mission go wrong?”</p><p class="p1">“No he just…is stupid.” He didn’t really want to get into the details right now. “I’ll talk to him and get the details.” He started for the door, hoping Duo was done with the doctors so they could get out of there and go home.</p><p class="p1">Trowa’s voice trailed behind him with an ominous tone. “I’m sure you will.”</p><p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">At a thick bulkhead-like door, Duo knocked insistently until someone came and opened it a crack for him, looking bothered at having to stop their work.</p><p class="p1">“Uh, hey. Is Doctor Po in? I need to see her.”</p><p class="p1">The person stepped away and opened the door for Duo to come in, and disappeared through the lab. The others in their white lab coats standing at their tables with beakers and liquids took glances at him.</p><p class="p1">“Duo!” Sally came out of a far off room with the person who’d answered the door behind her. She came up to him and extended her arms for a hug, and Duo returned it but groaned and weakly stepped away with a limp. She looked surprised. “Are you alright?”</p><p class="p1">“Actually I have some cuts and stuff, I was hoping you could take a look at it? I know you’re probably busy, but-”</p><p class="p1">“Of course, honey. Come on.” She led him away from the lab and into a hall of rooms, stepping through a curtain and he followed. A bed sat behind the cloth curtain, all metal and a small padded ‘mattress’ on top. “Sit down. What happened?”</p><p class="p1">Duo feebly climbed onto the bed, sitting on the edge. “I just got back from a mission—I made a bad fall. Hurts pretty bad.”</p><p class="p1">Sally was putting white rubber gloves on from a surgical tray. “Alright, let’s see it then.”</p><p class="p1">Duo struggled to lift his shirt over his head, but he did it and sat there breathing a little harder. He was still wearing the makeshift T-shirt bandages and started to untie them. Sally helped, rounding the bed to get the one around his ribs. She was able to see his back then and gasped.</p><p class="p1">“Oh my god, Duo! What happened?”</p><p class="p1">“I just fell, that’s all.”</p><p class="p1">“Onto what?”</p><p class="p1">“Cement. It was a twelve-foot fence.”</p><p class="p1">“Lord…” Her gloved fingers very gently passed over the bruised skin. “Hurt to bend over?”</p><p class="p1">Duo snorted. “It hurts just to live,” he joked. It did pain him badly to bend over, to lean, stand up straight, any of it.</p><p class="p1">Sally finished off the last shirt tie and lifted his cut arm, turning it in her hand and inspecting. He pointed to the wound on his ribs.</p><p class="p1">“This one hurts worse out of all the cuts. These are just baby scratches.” They weren’t totally minor cuts, they hurt like hell, but Wufei had seemed like that was the worst one. He hadn’t even seen it himself yet.</p><p class="p1">Sally held his arm away from his side to see it, pressing her finger tips gently at it, breaking the cement of the dried blood there and making it trickle a thin drip of blood. She clicked her tongue and stepped away to the surgical tray.</p><p class="p1">“You need staples. It’s cut down to the bone.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh. Really?” He initially tried to twist to look himself but the slight movement sent a tweak of pain up his back. “I didn’t even feel it when it happened.”</p><p class="p1">The doctor flipped through the curtain and rummaged through a chest of drawers and cabinets just on the other side. “What happened—did a mission go bad?”</p><p class="p1">“Nah, just got stuck in some razor wire. Oh yeah, there’s one on my leg too.”</p><p class="p1">“Take your pants off then.”</p><p class="p1">He chuckled. “Jeez Doc, you move quick. No nonsense—I like it.” He shimmied his pants off.</p><p class="p1">She returned through the curtain and she had an sarcastic smile on her red lips. She carried a small metal plate with tools, needles and set it on the empty space of the bed. She ripped open a pack of wipes and cleaned around the would on his side, wiping away the blood and anything else that might be there. Duo wriggled a little from the cold of the alcohol. And then winced at the sting going over the cut.</p><p class="p1">“Ah, well, I feel it now,” he grumbled.</p><p class="p1">She chuckled and continued. “I’m going to numb the area.” She uncapped a syringe and leveled the thin needle with the top of the laceration, sliding the tip in and injecting. She made this move in a few places all the way around it and then recapped the syringe and set it aside.</p><p class="p1">“Never had staples before. Do I get to keep them? Bet they look badass.”</p><p class="p1">She picked up a small gun-like tool and pressed it against the corner of the wound. “You do not get to keep them. You’ll have to go to a piercing shop for stuff like that.”</p><p class="p1">“I know, I was just kidd-ING! Fuck, scared me.”</p><p class="p1">She had placed the first staple in his flesh and slowly continued down the line, pushing the ends of the skin together and sealing them shut with the gun. Once done, she moved on to his arm, cleaning the cuts there too. They would only need topical bandages. He held his arm up for her while she rubbed the alcohol wipes over the cuts. She was focused on them, and it was quiet in the hall, no one else around. Duo felt safe enough to talk, lowly.</p><p class="p1">“Sally, can I talk to you about something?”</p><p class="p1">“Of course, hun.”</p><p class="p1">“It’s- uh… It’s sensitive. I can’t—do you have to report to Une or someone? Like, I don’t know, does doctor-patient confidentiality still work at Preventers?”</p><p class="p1">She glanced at him with concern and laid a square of gauze over one of the cuts, taping it down on his skin. “Yes. No one will ever know anything you tell me. You could trust me outside of my oath too. You know that.”</p><p class="p1">“I know.” He looked away, staring at the light under the curtain.</p><p class="p1">“Tell me, Duo.”</p><p class="p1">Duo stammered and reached up with his good arm to scratch his head. He tittered nervously. “I uh…I do coke.” He tried to make it sound as light as possible. He couldn’t believe he was saying it out loud to someone.</p><p class="p1">Sally looked up at him in surprise, and then continued to tape gauze to the rest of his cuts. “Oh. That’s very dangerous,” she said gently. She kneeled to clean his leg and cover it the same way.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah that’s what everyone says. But I’m- I kinda have to stop. I don’t really want to but…”</p><p class="p1">“Why don’t you want to?”</p><p class="p1">He shrugged and muttered. “Makes me feel better.”</p><p class="p1">“About what?”</p><p class="p1">“Me. Everything.”</p><p class="p1">She took her tray and left through the curtain again. “Drugs don’t take away your problems though. If you have something really bothering you like that, you need to work through them. Maybe see someone about it. If you’re coping with pain by using, you have to learn how to cope without the drugs.” When she came back in, her hands were empty, and she stood at the corner, arms folded.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah I don’t really like shrinks. Can you imagine how much shit they’d have to unpack with me?”</p><p class="p1">“Maybe that’s a good reason to see one. You’ve had a rough life. Need someone to talk to.”</p><p class="p1">Duo shook his head at the idea.</p><p class="p1">“And why do you have to stop?”</p><p class="p1">He sighed, frustrated. “Wufei’s always on me about it. He hates it, and he’s so pissed at me when I do it. Like, royally pissed. He cussed at me once. I like it when he’s mad but…not when he’s mad at me. I get one shot at this, and if I fuck it up…”</p><p class="p1">She moved to sit on the bed behind him and she eyed his purpled spine. “Cussed at you! He really was pissed, then. I don’t doubt that he despises it, that sounds just like him. Do you like him?”</p><p class="p1">Duo choked on a giggle, nodding. How was it so funny? “Yeah. Ain’t that somethin’? He was such an asshole during the war.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes he was. He’s mellowed out a lot. But he still stands by his morals, his ethics. He doesn’t let anyone stand against those without a fight. If you like him and he wants you to stop, there’s no better motivator than love.”</p><p class="p1">Jesus he didn’t want to hear that word. The sound of it made him scowl. What did he know about love? Nothing apparently, since he’d thought he found love in Hilde, in Heero, just to be crushed by it. Duo didn’t know what Wufei had in store for him, but here he was trying to wiggle in and see how much more hurt could be had. He couldn’t understand himself. If love hurt so bad, why try again? He hated himself. He just couldn’t help it, that’s why. That touch from Wufei, those words, that gentle affection broke him into pieces and somehow filled him up inside at the same time. He wanted to ask himself if he really was such a sucker for attention, for affection, craving it, but of course he was. Out on the dance floors high as a kite Duo would let anyone touch him. How else would he know he was wanted?</p><p class="p1">“You have to want to stop though. You have to want to stop because it’s right, it’s good for you, and it’ll be good for you and Wufei. You need to lay it all out for him, and he has to do the same for you. I know you don’t like lying, so I know you understand me when I say honesty is the best policy. Love can only build on truth, and trust. Tell him why you use and you can work on it together.”</p><p class="p1">Duo couldn’t think anymore. He would just get angry and sad. He pushed it away and chuckled. “Is that how you keep your husband so happy?”</p><p class="p1">“We keep each other happy. Communication is key, honey. You hear it all the time but it’s true. If you want this to work out, if you want to stop doing drugs and be happy on your own, be happy with someone else, you gotta open up. About everything.”</p><p class="p1">He exhaled hard. What a talk that would be. If he could ever do it. “We’ll see. Thanks for the new body jewelry. Am I cleared for duty?”</p><p class="p1">She laughed, getting up. “You are so not cleared for duty. With that back and those stitches, you have to rest up. A week at the very least please. Take something over-the-counter when you need it—I can’t give you a narcotic because now I know you’re an addict. I’ll write the report and you’ll have your leave. Just stay home.”</p><p class="p1">An addict, she said. He didn’t feel like an addict. He just liked the feeling. The forgetting. That’s all. He didn’t jones for it or go all over town seeking his next hit from anyone he could get it off of. He wouldn’t have any money left to pay for an addiction like that. A tiny thought in the back of his mind laughed at him: ‘Like you’ve ever paid for your lines with cash.’</p><p class="p1">Duo slid down off the bed carefully and laughed too. “A week of no work? Jesus what’ll I do with myself?” He dressed slowly, groaning. Maybe a week of rest wouldn’t be too bad. Any movement was killer.</p><p class="p1">She walked him out of the hall and through the labs when he’d dressed, squeezing his good arm at the door meaningfully. “Take your time and stay down as much as you can. Take a bunch of ibuprofen when you get home and veg out, okay? Think about what I said. You can come talk to me whenever you want.”</p><p class="p1">“Thanks, Doc.”</p><p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Duo was waiting by the Jeep when Wufei finally returned from Trowa’s office, and they took off for Wufei’s apartment.</p><p class="p1">“So what did our illustrious commander say?”</p><p class="p1">“Just that we have to trace the cyanide back to wherever it’s from. She asked about you; you’re ability on missions. It sounded like she’s interested in putting you on more when the need arises.”</p><p class="p1">“Mm! That’ll be nice.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei eyed the clean white bandages on Duo’s arm. “What did the doctor say?”</p><p class="p1">“Well, that cut apparently took me to the bone; I got staples in it. But she said I needed a week off minimum. I can barely walk anyways with my back. Can’t sit either.”</p><p class="p1">“You need bedrest.”</p><p class="p1">Duo sighed. “I can’t just lay around all day.”</p><p class="p1">“You have to.”</p><p class="p1">“I can’t—what about the project? Gotta work on it.”</p><p class="p1">“But it’s not work that has to be done on your feet. And you don’t have to think about it anymore, I’ll do it.”</p><p class="p1">Duo blew out an exasperated breath and leaned to rest his elbow on the window ledge, pulling back in pain and leaving his arm down. “What did she think about our little poison package?”</p><p class="p1">“She looked at it like it was going to jump up and stab her. She had me dispose of it.”</p><p class="p1">“And?”</p><p class="p1">“I gave it to Trowa.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh smart! He’ll sell it to someone, probably.”</p><p class="p1">Wufei rolled his eyes. Exactly what Trowa had said he would do. Duo apparently thought along the same lines. He couldn’t imagine the shady connections both Duo and Trowa had that they could just have access to things like illegal drugs, firearms, and chemicals. And they never gave it a second thought. It was second nature to them. Wufei couldn’t look down on them for it though—if there was demand, there was supply. He himself had sold off treasured items from his colony for weapons during the war. He regretted that.</p><p class="p1">Wufei drove into his parking garage, putting them beside his motorcycle. Neither of them moved to get out right away, Duo was probably steeling himself for the painful drive home. Wufei didn’t want him to leave yet.</p><p class="p1">“I- …You should stay here today.”</p><p class="p1">Duo’s expression was surprised. “You…want me to?”</p><p class="p1">“It’ll be a hard drive back to your apartment. You could rest here and if you feel good enough to leave tomorrow, you can.”</p><p class="p1">He looked down at his lap, hesitating. He didn’t smile. “I don’t wanna put you out, man-“</p><p class="p1">“You’re not.”</p><p class="p1">Duo sat there for a moment, thinking. “Alright.”</p><p class="p1">As Wufei got out and took their bags out of the back, he wondered what Duo had been considering to make his choice. Did he not want to stay? Was it awkward after all this? He could understand wanting to just go home and be alone to decompress after a long trip, especially this one where he was injured on the job for it. But Wufei couldn’t help but offer it. He didn’t really want him to go yet.</p><p class="p1">They took the elevator to his floor, and Wufei led Duo inside his apartment upon unlocking the door. From the living room, an old woman stood from the couch, coming around the corner to see him. Duo froze on the spot, only relaxing when Wufei greeted her. They spoke in Mandarin to each other, and the little old lady made glances at Duo behind him as he edged into the doorway of the kitchen. Wufei thanked her for keeping an eye on Taoshu, even for such a short time.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>“Who is your friend?”</em>
</p><p class="p1"><em> “My partner,” </em>Wufei replied, understanding the curiosity of his neighbor. The next time he saw her without Duo at his side he knew she would give him the third degree, determining for herself who Duo was and if was fit to be Wufei’s friend. She was eyeing his bandages, his trip-fatigued face and messy bangs carefully. <em>“He’s going to stay with me awhile.”</em></p><p class="p1">He didn’t know how true that was, how long that would be, but he wasn’t going to get into the details with her right now. Duo needed to rest, Wufei wanted to eat.</p><p class="p1">He said his goodbyes and thank you’s to her profusely, bowing deeply to her. She returned the bow, less deep than him, and left. He motioned for Duo to follow him into the apartment.</p><p class="p1">“My neighbor. Sit down. Are you hungry?” He set the duffel bag and backpack one the floor beside the coffee table. At the sound of his voice, Taoshu came hopping down the stairs to him. He smiled at her and picked her up when she stood on her back legs to paw at him, letting her nuzzle his nose.</p><p class="p1">“Yeah,” Duo sighed as he gently sat himself on the edge of the couch. He smirked at Wufei taking the licks from the rabbit on his cheek and how he whispered to her.</p><p class="p1">“Good, I’m going to make something. Here.” He came to Duo and started to set Taoshu in his lap.</p><p class="p1">Duo protested lightly, “Oh, shit, um…” the bunny was in his lap. “Okay.”</p><p class="p1">“Just pet her,” he said and walked away to the kitchen, going through the fridge and pulling out ingredients. He smiled to himself when he heard Duo talking to her.</p><p class="p1">“Hi, Sweet Cheeks,” He was saying quietly. “You’re a cute bun aren’t you? And you know it, huh. Do you use your cuteness on <em>Papi </em>to get treats?”</p><p class="p1">Wufei snorted at the term, chopping vegetables.</p><p class="p1">“Do rabbits get treats?”</p><p class="p1">“They do. Here.” He held up a slice of a bell pepper and tossed it to Duo. He caught it with his good arm and offered it to her. She took it from his fingers.</p><p class="p1">“What does Taoshu mean?”</p><p class="p1">“Peach tree.”</p><p class="p1">Duo hummed, looking down at the rabbit munching away. “Why that?”</p><p class="p1">“Because she’s soft. And beautiful.”</p><p class="p1">Duo didn’t make a reply, oddly silent, and Wufei glanced up at him. Duo watched him with surprised curiosity, eyes squinted.</p><p class="p1">“What?”</p><p class="p1">He looked away and smiled. “Nothing.”</p><p class="p1">On the counter beside the cutting board, Wufei’s phone vibrated with a message and he read the notification preview. It was Sally.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Duo saw me today, I’m sure you know…</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">He finished chopping and turned to throw it all in a wok, stirring for a second before picking up his phone to read while it all cooked.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Duo saw me today, I’m sure you know. </em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>I didn’t know you were seeing him.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">He turned to look at Duo, who still sat on the couch and pet Taoshu, watching her. Duo must have gone to Sally because she felt like a safer option than any doctor he wouldn’t know. But this… Why would she say that? He gave the veggies in the wok a quick toss and readied to type back to her, but his thumbs only hovered over the screen, unsure of what to say. ‘I’m not seeing him’? Technically they weren’t? He couldn’t even be sure. Duo didn’t give a return sentiment to his confession in the hotel, and nothing had happened since then. What could Duo have said to her that she felt this way?</p><p class="p2"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p5">I’m not.</p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">That felt horribly blunt. Her response was the same:</p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Oh. Then I guess never mind.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p5">No. Tell me why you said that.</p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>From what he said about you, it seemed like</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>you were together?</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p5">What did he say?</p>
</blockquote><p class="p6"> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>I’m not sure I should say now. It sounds like</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>you two have things to talk about.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p6"> </p><p class="p7">He stared at the screen, bewildered. He needed to know. Duo had made it seem like they were dating to Sally? What did he say? He didn’t feel like he should ask Duo about it. Suddenly everything they hadn’t said would have to be said, and if he was honest with himself, he was scared of the answers to his questions. But did this mean there was hope? He didn’t think he <b>should</b> hope. Duo was a drug addicted man who was sorting through his problems with his last failed relationships—Wufei couldn’t hope to be able to fit in Duo’s world so soon. If he ever would.</p><p class="p7">The cooking was done and he pulled out two bowls, starting to dole out the rice and top it with the stir fry. He reached for a set of chopsticks and stopped.</p><p class="p7">“Chopsticks or a fork?” He called out.</p><p class="p7">“Chopsticks is fine. I know how to use ‘em.”</p><p class="p7">He grabbed two sets and brought the dinner to the living room. “So you do have some culture.”</p><p class="p7">“I find that offensive. Spacers gotta be multicultural enough to get by—we deal with a lot of different people. Mine just happens to not be the Asian cultures. Except for chopsticks.” Duo took the bowl from him and held it up away from Taoshu still on his lap. “Uh, what do I do about this?”</p><p class="p7">Wufei sat down beside him on the couch. “Just put her down.”</p><p class="p7">“What, like, pick her up?”</p><p class="p7">“And put her down, yes.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei had poked his chopsticks into the rice and pick up a small mound, some of the vegetables on top, but he watched Duo struggle internally. Duo held the bowl in one hand and his other hand hovered, hesitating around Taoshu’s small body. Finally he slipped his hand under her belly and quickly set her on the floor. She jumped away to the cardboard box still in the room.</p><p class="p7">“Are you afraid of animals?”</p><p class="p7">“Wha- no, I just…don’t like it when they bite. Bunny’s got big teeth, man. Like horses. You’ll never see me touch a horse.”</p><p class="p7">Interesting. Wufei suddenly thought they should watch a movie. Duo liked movies, and it might make him more comfortable. He was surely in pain and it would help take his mind off it. And they could watch while they ate. He set his bowl down and opened his laptop, telling Duo to find something he wanted to watch. He got up and went upstairs, pulling a pillow off the bed and going back down with it. While Duo searched for a movie, Wufei set the pillow behind him for when he leaned back. Duo would need it with how bad his back looked. He smiled and thanked him for it. He chose the film and it started to play, and he leaned back into the pillow gingerly until he was comfortable. They ate and watched a reclusive egocentric doctor manipulate the human genome and splice animal and human DNA together, creating an isolated society of subjects to rule as a god. It did not go well for the mad doctor. By the time it ended, with Wufei watching through the credits again, Duo had fallen asleep, exhausted from the pain and the long day. Wufei shut the laptop and quietly picked up their empty bowls and chopsticks to take them to the kitchen. He wouldn’t wash them now, he could do it in the morning. Or whenever. It wasn’t a priority tonight. When he came back to the living room, Duo was still sleeping. His head was cushioned by the large pillow, sleeping almost sitting up. As Wufei stood there, he knew he had two options. Let Duo sleep there on the couch, get him a blanket and make him comfortable, or move him to the bed. If it were any other friend this wouldn’t be a question: they’d sleep on the couch of course. So why was he mulling over another option? This was a dangerous game, he thought. The confession was out there, Wufei could admit it now to himself that he liked Duo and wanted to try to pursue…something. Whatever Duo had to offer. But that was another question in itself. Did Duo want to offer anything to Wufei? Sally’s texts came back to him. Duo must have made it obvious to her that there was something between them.</p><p class="p7">Wufei rubbed his face. He was tired, he was overthinking it. If their situations were switched, Duo would put Wufei in his bed. He put a hand on Duo’s arm.</p><p class="p7">“Duo.”</p><p class="p7">Duo’s eyes sprung open and he blinked hard. “Mm? What? What happened?”</p><p class="p7">“Nothing. Let’s go to bed.” He took his arm and helped him up off the couch, crossing the living room to the staircase.</p><p class="p7">Duo breathed heavily, tiredly. “Man, you don’t waste time.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei stifled his chuckle but didn’t retort. He focused on getting a tired and limping Duo up the stairs and into his room. He sat him on the edge of the bed to climb in easily.</p><p class="p7">“Do you want to change?” He’d have to go back down to get the pillow anyways.</p><p class="p7">“Um…Yeah,” he muttered hoarsely. He barely even opened his eyes.</p><p class="p7">Wufei went down again, passing by Taoshu as she sat at the foot of the stairs to prepare to run up and join them, and dug through Duo’s backpack. It was dark, but he felt soft fabric and knew those must be the pants Duo wore to bed. He held them up to check in the dim lighting from outside and they unrolled, dropping an item on the floor. The cocaine tube. Wufei looked at it and pursed his lips. He set it on the edge of the coffee table and dug through the bag for the shirt. Then he grabbed the pillow and headed upstairs again, the rabbit at his heels. He set the clothes in Duo’s lap, who wavered in half-sleep, and went to his side of the bed to let Duo change behind him. If Duo cared about privacy. Wufei changed too, but his sleeping clothes were usually just his briefs, and he was suddenly nervous about sleeping next to Duo in only that. It was oddly intimate. But he didn’t sleep in anything else unless he had to, and right now he didn’t have to. Pants were uncomfortable in bed. He stripped down to his shorts with the thought that Duo would be too tired to tease him about it. When he turned to pull down the covers and climb into the bed, Duo was already in it, lying on his belly. He saw his outline faintly in the dark. Taoshu jumped onto the bed and wiggled up against Wufei, wanting to be snuggled and he stroked over her back to settle her down.</p><p class="p7">“Is the bunny on the bed?” Duo asked sleepily.</p><p class="p7">“She’s right here.” He listened to the soft sound of Duo’s hand sliding around on the covers, feeling for the rabbit. He took his hand and brought it to touch her fur. Duo scratched her side for a second, humming tired but happy.</p><p class="p7">“I like this,” he whispered.</p><p class="p7">“What?”</p><p class="p7">Duo’s hand slipped over her back to her other side and the back of his fingers came in contact with Wufei’s bare ribs between him and Taoshu. Wufei’s heart jumped at the touch in the dark.</p><p class="p7">“All of it.”</p><p class="p7">“Me too…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not sure how I feel about the block quotes as the text message format. In my actual manuscript its aligned left and right to look like it would in a messaging app, but I can't format it that way on AO3. I settled for italics on incoming messages and regular for outgoing. What do you think? Confusing? Try something else? I could do it the old school way:</p><p>D: Eat a dick.<br/>Q: Wow, Duo, rude.</p><p>What do you prefer?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Duo sat on the floor beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, hair loosened from his usual braid and slowly running a comb through it. He rarely got to do this; taking all the time in the world to comb it through over and over until it felt silky smooth. The repetition calmed him. He stared out the window at the surrounding apartment complex that enclosed a zen-garden park on the ground. It was a private park, Wufei had told him, accessible only to the apartment tenants with a code or card-swipe. He told Duo the code in case he wanted to see it for himself. Nobody was down there then, and why would there be anyone? It was the middle of the work-day. Duo was no workaholic, but knowing he had a lot of time off ahead, even the minimal six more days, he twiddled his thumbs. It felt weird knowing Wufei was at the office working hard, and Duo sat in his apartment brushing his hair.</p><p class="p1">It must have been early in the morning when Wufei stood over him by the bed, waking him just enough to say he had to go to work. Duo slept in until he just woke up on his own. He even stayed in his pajamas. They were comfy after all, and he had nowhere to go, why change? He could go down to the park, but he decided not today. With everything hurting he thought he should take at least one day as easy as possible, keeping on the pills and lie around. His phone screeched its mobile suit tone through the silence of the apartment and Duo jumped, wincing at the stretch on his back and he laughed at himself for a second before checking it.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>We missed you at lunch today. Please don’t forget to eat!</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p1">Quatre.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p4">
    <em>I have the week off, got fucked up on a mission. I’m fine,</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p4">
    <em>before you ask. Just have to take a break.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p5"> </p><p class="p1">He saw that Quatre was typing a response, but the phone vibrated in his hand to notify of another message. Duo read the name of the sender and stared. He didn’t really want to read whatever Jordy had said. Duo had seen the tube of powder on the corner of the coffee table when he got up, and he knew he hadn’t taken it out of his bag. Wufei must have found it when he got Duo’s pj’s for him. Why leave it out like that though? Duo had stared down at it for a full minute, contemplating. One more hit. It would make him feel better, take some pain away. But he didn’t. He could take painkillers for his back. He liked the cocaine for fun. Couldn’t really have a good time in his condition right now. Unless he wanted to really be hurting afterwards. Was that not a sign that he wasn’t an addict? He didn’t feel like an addict. He tapped the message.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Where you at? I’m here right now.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p1">Jordy was at his apartment, ready to make their exchange.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p4">
    <em>I’m not there. I’m at a friend’s place for a while.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p5"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>I’m not coming all the way to wherever</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>you are. You want to come take care of</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>this or not?</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p6"> </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>Unless your friend wants to get on this</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>too.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p6"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p3">
    <em>?</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p7">Duo frowned down at the screen. Wufei would lose it if he knew Jordy had come here. He certainly didn’t imagine Wufei would ever want to try it.</p><p class="p8"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>I can’t.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p10"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>Be nice to know you weren’t gonna</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>fucking help me out today. Came all</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>the way fucking out here.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p7">Duo scowled then at the blame Jordy was putting on him. Trying to guilt him. He typed back with some sass.</p><p class="p8"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>Probly lots of others who pay</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>in favors, man. You’re not making me</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>feel bad for you. Find another bitch.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p12"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>Shitbag. You weren’t even that good! I</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>should’ve asked for more.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p8"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>Fuck you! You don’t get anything else.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p13"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>Then step it up, or I’ll start cutting your</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>stash with detergent. See how you like</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>that shit.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p7">Duo rolled his eyes and dropped the phone to the floor. Thoroughly done with the conversation.</p><p class="p7">“Dick.”</p><p class="p7">Quatre never texted back.</p><p class="p7">Duo continued to comb his hair, trying to put his conversation with Jordy behind him. He decided not to braid it back up and only tied it in a ponytail. For the rest of the day, he watched movies from Wufei’s laptop, watched Taoshu run around the place, and pet her when she came up to him. He wondered if she was confused that he was there when usually she must have been left alone all this time while Wufei was at work. At least he didn’t work long hours. And speaking of which…</p><p class="p7">He checked the time on his phone. Wufei would be getting back sometime soon. He didn’t know Wufei’s exact working hours, but they met up early enough times for him to have it within an hour. His stomach growled, and he realized all he’d had was a coffee that morning. Maybe Wufei had some good stuff in the fridge to make dinner with. Something non-Asian that he knew what to do with. He grunted getting off the couch, letting the movie play in the background (he’d seen it many times before), and looked into the fridge. Most of the items were familiar, basics of cooking around the world generally. Other items, certain sauces, not so much. He opened a vegetable drawer and picked up a conical…something. He didn’t know what it was. Green and white, lots of ridges. And cone shaped. Some kind of plant he guessed. He couldn’t work with that. He set it back in the drawer and picked out things he could work with though, and started searching through the cabinets for pans and utensils.</p><p class="p7">He was close to being done when the door opened and Wufei entered. He greeted him while grabbing plates out of the cupboard.</p><p class="p7">“Hey, ‘Fei! Welcome home, or whatever.” He laughed at himself.</p><p class="p7">Wufei had bent down to Taoshu when she jumped up to him, kissing her nose and greeting her first. Then he stood and looked into the kitchen. Duo was plating the food for them, finding the right utensils. He guessed they could use chopsticks. Or forks. Did it matter—they were both eating tools.</p><p class="p7">“How was work? Commander get her panties in a knot when she saw my doctor’s note?”</p><p class="p7">“It was fine. Boring: I was looking for the manufacturer all morning.”</p><p class="p7">“Yeah that sounds like shit.” He looked over at Wufei finally, plate in each hand. “Are you- what?” Wufei had this look in his eyes that was…curious? Impressed? Duo didn’t know. What he did know, what that Wufei was staring at his hair. And Duo understood why, he understood when anybody saw him like that because he was never caught with it loose. He could count on one hand the people who had seen his hair down. The others he didn’t count because they were all dead. The constant braid kept his long hair in long thick waves, and then in the tail at the back of his head it swayed and flowed freely. He liked it, it was relaxing. Wufei seemed like he was trying to play it off as no big deal, even though Duo could see he was interested in it.</p><p class="p7">“Nothing. I like your hair like that.” He moved beyond the kitchen and foyer to shuck his Preventer jacket off and toss it on the couch arm.</p><p class="p7">“Thanks! Am I cute?” Duo asked in a high girly voice, giggling. He set the two plates on the bar counter.</p><p class="p7">Wufei blew out a breath and shook his head at himself, but he was smiling. “You’re cute.”</p><p class="p7">“Good. I made dinner, dude, hope you’re hungry.”</p><p class="p7">“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.” Wufei still sat on the barstool and looked at the plate of food.</p><p class="p7">“I mean, I guess, but you worked all day and I sat on the couch watching movies.” Duo joined him on the other barstool and they set into their plates. They ate and Duo asked about the assignment, what Wufei had looked into and what else he may be searching for. Tomorrow Duo would work on the search as well, but from the apartment. It occurred to him that Wufei had invited him to stay over for yesterday…but he hadn’t left at all yet today. And here it was dinner time, still in his pj’s, and talking about staying tomorrow to work on the project. Wufei hadn’t objected to the mention of it, but Duo couldn’t help but wonder if he was just rolling with it even if he felt uncomfortable. When they had finished, Duo took their plates and, even after Wufei’s protests, started to wash up.</p><p class="p7">“Just go sit down man, take a load off.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei sighed, but he did thump down into the couch. “I’ve been sitting all day.”</p><p class="p7">“You ever think about- well, never mind. I was gonna say ‘you ever think about exercising or workouts’ but I mean…I’ve seen how fucking cut you are.” He started the water in the sink and found the plug to keep the water in.</p><p class="p7">“You must workout: you’re not flat in any way.”</p><p class="p7">“Yeah, but obviously not like you. Keeps me fit, looking good.” He dunked the plates in the water and started to scrub. Pained his arm a little, and his side, to do the cooking and cleaning up, but he thought he needed it. They were small cuts, no need to bed-rest them. “It’s like, bare functional muscle. If we were to fight though, you’d kick my ass. No doubt. All that kung-fu? Whipped.”</p><p class="p7">“I could teach you some, when you’re better. If you wanted to learn.”</p><p class="p7">“Really? You wouldn’t be breaking some mystical code and secret moves?”</p><p class="p7">“No. You could learn them in any academy if you looked.”</p><p class="p7">Duo’s phone beeped with the startling notification and he heard Wufei sigh with light relief after his probable scare. Duo chuckled. “Yeah, alright. When my back isn’t so fucked. Who’s texting me? Quatre texted me today about missing lunch.” He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Mother hen.” With the plates cleaned, he moved on to the pans and cutting board, waiting for an answer. It was quiet for a moment.</p><p class="p7">“It’s Jordy,” Wufei said slowly.</p><p class="p7">Duo froze. Why? Why is Jordy messaging again after cutting him off hours ago? He listened to Wufei read the text aloud from the locked screen and his jaw tightened.</p><p class="p7">“’So when are we meeting up next?’…Did you see him today?”</p><p class="p7">“No. We were texting earlier but I thought we were done talking. I wouldn’t have him come here: this is your house.” He tried to start scrubbing the pan in his hand but it was slow-going, and he stared into the water, not seeing.</p><p class="p7">“But you’re going to meet him for another buy.”</p><p class="p7">“He’s just pissed that we didn’t meet today like usual.” He couldn’t say no—he didn’t know the future. He’d told Sally he needed to stop doing it, so why not just cut it off and be done completely? He didn’t know why.</p><p class="p7">Wufei was quiet. Duo dropped the pan and dried his hands off, turning to see his phone in Wufei’s hand, scrolling. Depending on the person, Duo would have snatched his phone right out of someone else’s hand. Privacy was an obvious right, but he didn’t include people like Trowa, Quatre, or Wufei in that. He knew Wufei had unlocked his phone and was reading the messages between him and Jordy. Duo just stood there, waiting. His cheeks felt hot, and he couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or ashamed. Maybe both. Wufei didn’t have to be smart to figure out what they had meant. But Duo knew, he knew he was going to have to explain himself. Wufei would demand it. Sally had said ‘trust and truth’, but he didn’t think she would have meant it for this.</p><p class="p7">“How do you pay for this.” Wufei didn’t even look at him. He focused on the floor, Duo’s phone in his limp hand.</p><p class="p7">Duo bit his lip. “Not with money.”</p><p class="p7">“Then how?”</p><p class="p7">Wufei wanted him to say it, but he wouldn’t. Not until Wufei said it first.</p><p class="p7">“How do you think?” Duo couldn’t even be angry. He couldn’t brush up any sarcasm or sass. He just felt tired.</p><p class="p7">“Stop evading the question, Duo!” Wufei got up and stood on the other side of the counter, leaving only a couple feet between them of the counter and bar-top. He was scowling. “Do you sleep with him?”</p><p class="p7">“Close. I mean-“</p><p class="p7">“Answer me.”</p><p class="p7">“… Blowjobs.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei closed his eyes against that, shaking his head down at the counter.</p><p class="p7">“He gets blowjobs and I get the coke. I’ve never paid for it with money, except for the first time.”</p><p class="p7">“Do you know how dangerous this is—this game you’re playing? What if he overpowered you the next time, took more just like he said he should’ve asked for-“</p><p class="p7">Duo scoffed. “He can’t force me into anything: he’s just a bummy dealer.”</p><p class="p7">“And you’re just a skinny junkie.”</p><p class="p7">He ground his teeth and frowned. “I’m not a junkie.”</p><p class="p7">“Then what is this?” Wufei held the phone up, then he pointed to the still-sealed tube on the table. “What is that? Using during an active op, trading sex for coke, but you’re not a druggie…”</p><p class="p7">Duo took a breath to speak but stopped short, grinding his teeth again. He really had nothing to say to that. He couldn’t refute it.</p><p class="p7">Wufei blew out a hard frustrated breath. “Sally thinks we’re together—did you tell her that?”</p><p class="p7">Duo blinked at the quick subject change. “No.” He’d never said those words, that was the truth.</p><p class="p7">“Do you want to be?”</p><p class="p7">Duo really hadn’t been expecting to be asked point blank about that. He was never one to be shy about expressing his intentions, but this thing that hung between him and Wufei he had been keeping close to his chest. If it blew up in his face, feelings rejected…Duo didn’t know how he’d take it. It would be the last time he faced a rejection like that. But he had to lay it out now.</p><p class="p7">“…Yes.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei set the phone on the countertop. “Not like this. You know what I want, now it’s time to tell me what you want. I’m going to take a shower and when I get out, if your answer is that you don’t want this—you don’t want to be happy on your own, you don’t want to be yourself without the drugs…don’t be here.”</p><p class="p7">Duo’s mouth hung open as Wufei walked away to the stairs and disappeared, eyes wide and stunned, but he couldn’t say a word. What could he say. He stood still in the kitchen, dumbfounded. This was a crossroads, the decision had to be made now. And the choice was obvious! But why did he have to stand there and debate it? Did he not want to try with Wufei, see how far they could go? Drop the cocaine and pursue something worthwhile—find out if this was the last time he’d have to take a chance on someone else, risk his feelings, his psyche, on the opportunity for a real relationship? Someone who wanted him as him and not try to mold him into whatever it was they wanted? He never took well to ultimatums, he preferred to make his own choices, and when presented with an ultimatum he liked to choose the unfavorable one just to spite the person handing it out. But what would he gain by choosing cocaine over Wufei? Future nose collapse, possible overdose and premature death, all paid for with a dick-sucking? 30 minute highs and day-long lows. Jesus the choice was obvious unless Duo was stupid.</p><p class="p7">He heard the shower turn on upstairs, knew he had time to calm down and get his thoughts together. He left the dishes in the sink and went to to coffee table, standing over the small tube he’d made and sealed himself for travel. Why go to such great lengths to bring it with him? Why did he think he could get away with using it, especially within Wufei’s sight?</p><p class="p7">He sighed and picked it up and trudged slowly up the stairs. Taoshu ran out from under the bed, scurrying circles around his feet. He managed a half-smile at her playfulness, and he had to kneel to pick her up carefully. He sat on the end of the bed, right in the path of the bathroom door, and pet the rabbit to calm himself. His heart pounded as he waited for the shower to turn off. When it did, Taoshu jumped down and slid under the bed, and a few minutes later, the bathroom door opened. Wufei looked surprised to see him, but he didn’t know if it was because he was sitting right there waiting for him, or surprise that he was there at all. Maybe Wufei had expected him to leave.</p><p class="p7">Duo looked down at his lap, rolling the tube between his fingers. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry to put you through this. I didn’t want you to find out about all this. I knew I needed to stop- knew you wanted me to…I just…I don’t want to say I didn’t know how serious you were, but…Is it wrong to say I wanted to know how far I could go?” He scoffed to himself. “Sound like a fucking asshole when I say it like that.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei stayed in the doorway of the bathroom, leaning against the frame and listening. His hair was down, wet, and a few drops of water slid down his chest to collect in the waistband of his soft loose pants. “I don’t want to change you, Duo. I ask you to quit the drugs because it’s not good for you, not in any way. For your health, for your mind-”</p><p class="p7">“And you hate it.”</p><p class="p7">“I do hate it. It’s not right, it’s dangerous, and because I like you I want you to be safe. I want you to be happy. On your own.”</p><p class="p7">“I don’t know if I can.”</p><p class="p7">“You can if you let yourself. I don’t know how, if you need to talk to someone, face your problems, or make some other healthy habit out of it, but you can.”</p><p class="p7">Duo sighed. “Sally said I had to talk to you…about everything.”</p><p class="p7">“What did you tell her?”</p><p class="p7">“That I had to stop for you.”</p><p class="p7">“You don’t have to stop for me. You could continue to use if that’s what you really want, but I won’t be able to stand by you and watch you do it. Not anymore. You need to stop for you. I like you the way you are—who you really are. I’m not trying to change you into some person that’s going to fit seamlessly into my life. You’re still going to infuriate me doing what you do. You’re still going to confuse and dumbfound me as yourself…But that’s what I like about you. That’s what I want from you: just you.”</p><p class="p7">Duo watched him and felt his cheeks heat up again. He was happy, he felt it in his chest and in his cheeks, but he didn’t think he should just start smiling. He thought it was a weirdly sad kind of happy.</p><p class="p7">“I want to be with you,” he said.</p><p class="p7">Wufei pushed off the frame and came to him, holding his hand out. “Give that to me.”</p><p class="p7">Duo looked from Wufei’s face to his hand and to the tube of cocaine. He put it in Wufei’s hand and watched it be swallowed into his fist.</p><p class="p7">“Never again.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei’s eyes weren’t angry, they weren’t sad, they just…looked into him. A silent plead if Duo had to guess.</p><p class="p7">“Okay,” he whispered.</p><p class="p7">“Don’t look so sad,” Wufei sighed. His palm cupped Duo’s cheek, rubbing his thumb against the skin. “You’re going to be fine.”</p><p class="p7">Duo’s heart hammered at the touch. He hesitantly reached up at him, Wufei moved closer, and Duo snickered at himself, shaking his head.</p><p class="p7">“Shit,” he chuckled, and threw his arms around Wufei’s sides, pressing his face into the flesh of Wufei’s abdomen.</p><p class="p7">Wufei threaded his fingers through Duo’s hair and wrapped his arm around the back of his shoulders. He sighed. “You piss me off so much.”</p><p class="p7">“Well you screwed yourself: you’re stuck with me now, babe.” Duo smiled, running his hands down Wufei’s dripping wet back.</p><p class="p8"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p7"> </p><p class="p7">Wufei opened his eyes blearily, auto-waking before his alarm even went off, and stared up at the ceiling, the red and gold tapestries brightening in the low light of the early rising sun. He floundered for his watch on the table. 6:15. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He didn’t really want to get up. Not today. He turned onto his side and looked over at Duo beside him. He was fast asleep, hair loose and wrapping around his arm, curving over his back. Wufei slid his hand up Duo’s arm to curl around his hand, and Duo stirred, eyes opening to bare slits. It seemed he woke easily at the barest touch, but there was no threat here so he didn’t have to wake fully.</p><p class="p7">“Nothing,” Wufei muttered to Duo’s sleepy questioning hum. “I have to get up.”</p><p class="p7">“‘Kay,” Duo whispered.</p><p class="p7">He rubbed a thumb over Duo’s hand for a moment before letting go and flipping the covers back. He sat on the edge of the bed while he wrapped his watch around his wrist and got up to find his soft pants. Taoshu hopped down and hustled downstairs, ready for her breakfast.</p><p class="p7">Duo mumbled through the quiet while Wufei slipped his pants on. “You sleep in your shorts…weirdo.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei chuckled, but he also was keenly aware then that Duo had been watching him, nearly naked. He left him in the bed and went downstairs. He flipped open his laptop and turned it on, letting it load while he went into the kitchen and checked Taoshu’s level of hay in her trough. The coffee machine started up and he picked out some greens from the fridge to set in front of her. She immediately began to nibble them and forgot the hay she had been eating. He leaned back against the counter as the coffee brewed and dripped into the pot, yawning and rubbing his face. He poured himself a mug and took it to the couch, sipping the boiling brew as he swiped along the trackpad, opening an application and tapping a button. A calling tone rung gently. He adjusted himself on the cushions, one knee up to rest his coffee on. The call was answered and Heero’s face lit up the screen as he was apparently adjusting his tie.</p><p class="p7">“Chang. You’re…” Heero’s eyes flickered over Wufei’s state of dress. Barefoot, loose pants, no shirt. Hair still loose over his shoulders. He didn’t call Heero like this ever, he was always dressed for work when they spoke, whether in person or over video. Wufei was taking it easy today, or maybe he didn’t really care about appearances right now.</p><p class="p7">“You’re up early.”</p><p class="p7">“This is my normal time—I’m not working out today.”</p><p class="p7">“I see.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei sipped his coffee. “Do you want an update on the Sierra Leone situation?”</p><p class="p7">“Yes. What have you found?”</p><p class="p7">“They’re manufacturing Cyanogen Chloride. Do you know what that is?”</p><p class="p7">“Poisonous chemical compound. CK. In what quantities?”</p><p class="p7">“Enough for a war. Une is setting a group up to search for the location of the stockpile, but as of yet there’s nothing.”</p><p class="p7">Heero squinted down at his desk, calculating.</p><p class="p7">“My team investigated the imports and exports of the country and found large shipments of the two components of the CK, and we recently made an infiltration into one of the holding facilities to find it. We found the cyanide component and took note of the supplier.” He wondered how delicate he had to be around Heero with the mention of Duo’s name. ‘Team’ was the safest option, and Heero wouldn’t be interested in asking who exactly was on Wufei’s team, unaware it was a two-man job of Wufei himself and Duo.</p><p class="p7">“So you’re working on finding the supplier?”</p><p class="p7">“Yes.” He sat up and reached across the coffee table for a stack of papers—Wufei’s report and compiled information on the situation so far. He set his coffee down for a second to flip through it and then sat back. He took another drink. “I have the list of potentials here. The supplier is in China if it’s not more of this false company business. Ran into a lot of that just narrowing down the imports. Would you like the list?”</p><p class="p7">“Hm. No, Preventers can handle that on their own. And when you pinpoint the supplier?”</p><p class="p7">Why was Heero even asking these things? He would know exactly what the steps were, what would come next and how it would go down to the minute detail if this were his assignment. Unless being head of security had dulled his training. Wufei sincerely doubted that.</p><p class="p7">“Another op to go in and find the buyer.”</p><p class="p7">Just then Duo had rounded the corner of the stairs, still in his pajamas, but he’d put his hair in a tail again. He smiled tiredly and put a finger to his lips to indicate he’d be quiet. He stepped silently to the kitchen. Wufei suddenly knew it was going to be another day of emotional turmoil for Duo and frustration for himself. He continued talking as though Duo hadn’t interrupted his thought process.</p><p class="p7">“There’s someone instructing the manufacture of these weapons, and hopefully this backwards trail will end there with records of the buy.”</p><p class="p7">Duo closed the cupboard with a gentle ‘thunk’, coffee cup clinking on the counter. Wufei watched Heero’s eyebrow twitch at the sound though, everything just loud enough for him to hear through the speakers.</p><p class="p7">“If there’s nothing, then we can only hope the team on the stockpile will find what we need. At the very least if the stockpile is found, we can confiscate it.”</p><p class="p7">Heero tilted his head and shook it lightly. “If word gets out, or the weapons go missing, the buyer will disappear into thin air. You’ll have-“</p><p class="p7">“Aaah-Ow! FUck!” Duo cried out, and Wufei heard liquid splash onto the floor and the crashing of glass. “Is that Heero?!”</p><p class="p7">Heero’s brows drew together. “Is that Duo?”</p><p class="p7">Wufei gaped and looked between them, stammering. “Yes.”</p><p class="p7">Heero squinted at Wufei and said something, but all Wufei heard was Duo scrambling in the kitchen.</p><p class="p7">“Shit, fucking spilled my- No no, bun, please be careful!” He was ushering Taoshu out of the kitchen. “Shit.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei brought his attention back to Heero. “What?”</p><p class="p7">“Why is Duo in your apartment at six in the morning?”</p><p class="p7">“He’s- he was injured on the mission. He’s staying here to recuperate.”</p><p class="p7">Heero spoke deeply and bluntly. “He knows how to take care of himself, don’t let him use you as a crutch.”</p><p class="p7">Duo was crouched on the floor in the kitchen, probably picking up the pieces of the broken mug, but he still heard Heero speak.</p><p class="p7">“Oh, fuck you!” He shouted.</p><p class="p7">“He’s not using me as a crutch,” Wufei confirmed, perplexed at Heero’s choice of words. “Is he not allowed to stay with someone while he heals his injuries?”</p><p class="p7">Heero’s head tilted up some and his look into the camera was suddenly blank. “He can do whatever he wants.”</p><p class="p7">“You’re fucking right I can!” Duo popped up from behind the counter and stormed into the living room, expression furious. He grabbed at the corner of the laptop to spin it to him before Wufei could get his coffee mug on the table and stop him. “A fucking crutch, are you serious!? You would’ve broken my goddamn legs yourself just so I could ask you for help, you sonofabitch!”</p><p class="p7">Wufei lunged up from the couch and grabbed at Duo’s arm as he pointed at Heero’s digital face. “Duo stop!”</p><p class="p7">Duo was almost snarling as Wufei held his arms down to still him, trying to block Duo from looking at the screen. “You wanted me to need you so fucking bad!” He struggled against Wufei’s grasp, looking over Wufei’s shoulder at the camera. “Well, how’s your bitch treating you—you like kneeling at her fucking feet?!”</p><p class="p7">Wufei grasped Duo’s arms harshly and jerked his whole body. “Duo! Stop! Just stop.” He fully blocked the computer from Duo’s sight and the shake brought his panting, wrathful attention to him. “Calm down.”</p><p class="p7">“Why are you talking to him? What the fuck is this?”</p><p class="p7">“It’s work. It’s just work,” he reassured.</p><p class="p7">Heero’s voice came in behind Wufei matter-of-factly. “He’s keeping me updated on the CK problem.”</p><p class="p7">Duo still looked at Wufei but he shouted back at him. “I wasn’t asking you, you prick!”</p><p class="p7">Wufei was surprised, if he was thinking about it at all, that Heero was still on the call. He expected him to have cut the line when the shouting started. “It’s just work,” he repeated. “Please. It’s okay.”</p><p class="p7">He released Duo’s arms from his steel grip and Duo’s shoulders went limp. Duo exhaled a ragged breath and thumped his forehead against Wufei’s shoulder, reaching under Wufei’s arms to wrap around him in a hug. Wufei returned it, softly around his bruised back, and he suddenly remembered Heero could see them, the back of Wufei anyways, and Duo’s fingers splayed over his skin.</p><p class="p7">Duo sighed again. “I don’t want to think about this. I can’t think about this today. Fuck.”</p><p class="p7">“I know, I’m sorry.”</p><p class="p7">He dropped his arms and stepped away. “Just…just finish your shit.” He wandered away into the kitchen.</p><p class="p7">Wufei turned to the computer. “We’ll talk later.”</p><p class="p7">“Roger.”</p><p class="p7">The video went black.</p><p class="p7">Wufei sighed and left it, going to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. Duo was on his knees, picking up the pieces of the broken mug. There was coffee all over the floor. He grabbed a towel hanging over the sink cabinet and kneeled to help clean up, soaking up the liquid.</p><p class="p7">“How long have you been talking to him?”</p><p class="p7">“Since he started working for Relena.”</p><p class="p7">Duo snorted. “Have you known about us this whole time? And what, you’re just fucking with me?”</p><p class="p7">“No. I didn’t know you had broken up when we started talking. He never mentioned anything.”</p><p class="p7">“Of course not—he’s got his new Queen to take care of. Bet he never had a second thought about it.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei wanted to press for more, but Duo had already said he didn’t want to think about it today. He would at some point he was sure. His outburst and accusations were quite pointed and harsh. They cleaned up the mess in silence. Wufei rinsed out the towel in the sink and got a new mug, filling it and setting it on the counter for Duo.</p><p class="p7">“Sorry I broke your cup,” Duo said meekly. “Fuckin’…spilled on my hand.”</p><p class="p7">“It’s okay.”</p><p class="p7">“Was more worried about Taoshu coming in and burning her little toes.” He chuckled. “I’m fuckin’ awake now.” He took his mug and went into the living room, setting it down before groaning and lying out on the couch, belly down. “Everything hurts.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei followed him out. “Can I see your back?”</p><p class="p7">“Oh, yeah you haven’t seen my staples. Check ‘em out, cooler than stitches.” He reached behind his head to pull his hair away from his back and let it fall over the edge of the couch and onto the floor.</p><p class="p7">Wufei kneeled beside the couch and gently pulled Duo’s shirt up, revealing the long bruise expanding down and out from his spine. With one finger he traced the line of staples along the back of Duo’s ribcage.</p><p class="p7">“Do you want some ice for your back?”</p><p class="p7">“Nah, not right now. Gonna inhale this coffee and a whole bottle of pills first. Maybe later.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei let his hand run along Duo’s side and up over his back gently, absently, and when he looked he saw Duo’s eyes were closed, the lightest smile on his face. He suddenly hated that he had to get up and get dressed for work. He should call out, take a sick day. He sighed to himself: he wouldn’t do that. Maybe Duo needed a day alone to cool down and relax after a stressful morning. He never got up quite this early anyways, he’d probably go back to sleep when he left, even after a coffee. When he moved to get up, Duo shifted onto his side and grabbed his arm to stop him. He looked unsure.</p><p class="p7">“Come here,” he said quietly.</p><p class="p7">Wufei knelt again and Duo’s hand slid up his arm and over his shoulder. Wufei instinctively leaned in when the hand framed the side of his jaw, heart beginning to race when Duo leaned in as well. He watched Duo’s eyes flicker between Wufei’s eyes and his mouth, still unsure it seemed, but Wufei’s eyes snapped shut when Duo firmly pressed their lips together. He breathed in sharply when the lips started to move against his, and Wufei’s hand darted up to hold the bottom of Duo’s jaw, pressing harder. He was dizzy at the feel of Duo’s lips on his, Duo’s hand slipping up into his hair. His own hand squeezed gently at Duo’s neck and the response of a quick breath sent crackles of excitement down his legs. Duo pulled away, breathing lightly, and let his arm and head fall down to the couch.</p><p class="p7">“Shit, you better get dressed before I jump you.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei let his head hang down for a second, barely able to chuckle at that, and gathered his composure. Duo was right, he needed to get dressed. He needed to go now or else he wouldn’t leave at all. He got up and wanted to laugh at himself: his legs were shaky from the kiss.</p><p class="p7">“You couldn’t jump me if you tried like this.”</p><p class="p7">“Don’t challenge me, man.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei took himself to the stairs and started up, listening to Duo whisper to himself as he left.</p><p class="p7">“Jesus fuck.”</p><p class="p7"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p8"> </p><p class="p7">Duo shifted on the bench, trying to find a good way to lean while he swiped around on his tablet. The few sheets of paper on the arm rest were weighed down by a rock he pulled from the zen garden patch beside him, and he looked back and forth between the papers and the tablet, making sure he was spelling correctly. It was frustrating him, all the names of the companies he had to search through. Wufei had typed it up for him, taking the time to include both the Chinese characters and the English equivalents just so Duo could read it. Not that he understood what the words <b>translated</b> to but at least he could say it out loud if he had to. And with every new search, every different company he input into the search he had to get translated from the mother tongue. Every single link, every company. He’d be faster at learning the language than searching through all this crap. Oh he hated it. And this bench was uncomfortable to lean on because of his back. He wanted the sunshine though, that’s why he came out there. A quiet place outside in the sun, trickling water from the small pond and fountain in the center, neon orange and white fish waving through. He could get some work done out here in the fresh air. He thought he could get some work done. It wasn’t happening though. He sighed loudly and let the tablet fall against his lap to watch one of the koi push its lips up to the surface of the pond, presumably grabbing a bug. He thought about the morning’s events, catching Wufei in a video chat with Heero, and he almost felt a little embarrassed about his actions. Wufei must think he’d bagged himself the biggest drama queen, bursting out like he had. Along with all the other moments of yelling the two had done recently. He felt better afterwards though. But he didn’t know if it was because he’d expelled his rage at someone or because he’d gotten something off his chest. Maybe both, but he didn’t feel like he’d really talked about anything. Wufei probably felt the same since he was curious about Duo’s history with his last two lovers. He seemed to be giving Duo the space he needed, the time, to gather it all up and be able to talk about it. Maybe tonight. He didn’t know. It’ll come when it comes.</p><p class="p7">A figure stepped into his peripheral, small and colorful, and sat on the other end of the bench. He looked and the old neighbor woman looked back at him. She spoke and Duo’s eyes widened at the length of the conversation he suddenly couldn’t be part of. He didn’t understand her. He stammered when she finished and waited for his response.</p><p class="p7">“Uh…Nin hao.” Never happier to know at least ‘hello’ in ten languages. But that was the extent of his Mandarin. Hello.</p><p class="p7">She seemed to get it just from that, as he probably didn’t answer her correctly at all. She blinked like a bumblebee had bumped into her face. “You why no speak Chinese?”</p><p class="p7">“I- I dunno? I speak Spanish?” This grandma somehow flustered him.</p><p class="p7">“You are Wufei boyfriend—you why no speak Chinese?”</p><p class="p7">“Boyfriend?” Well it was true wasn’t it? Just seemed so early, so fresh out of the box their relationship. “I don’t know, he just hasn’t taught me yet? Crap.”</p><p class="p7">The lady stared into his face with scrutiny and she shocked him when she started laughing. She slapped her leg and Duo stared dumbfounded.</p><p class="p7">“I am joking with you! I know English well.”</p><p class="p7">Duo laughed with relief with her. “Oh my god, you got me good, miss! You really scared me.”</p><p class="p7">She adjusted her shawl up around her shoulder again after it fell from her movement, an olive green silky thing with red embroidered patterns and butterflies. “‘Miss’- Ha! Those days are long behind me. My husband laugh at you from his grave. My name is Huang Jing.”</p><p class="p7">“Duo Maxwell. You babysat Taoshu right?”</p><p class="p7">“Yes. Wufei is protective about his baby. You are babysitting Taoshu now—are you soon going to move in?”</p><p class="p7">“Move in? With Wufei?”</p><p class="p7">She nodded.</p><p class="p7">“Uhhh…” Lord that was a mind-boggling thought. It was way too soon to think about that—they’d only kissed for the first time that morning. “I don’t know. We’re pretty new. I’m staying over because I messed my back up at work.” That wasn’t even true anymore, he knew. His back hurt, sure, but he could easily be at his own apartment right now and be resting exactly the same. He stayed now because he didn’t want to leave. Maybe he should though. Get out of Wufei’s hair for a while.</p><p class="p7">“Did you meet at work?”</p><p class="p7">If one considered fighting in the Eve War as comrade Gundam pilots as ‘work’. Duo guessed that was close enough. He didn’t know how much Jing knew about Wufei’s past. “Yeah, we’ve worked together for a long time.” There we go, that felt like less of a half-lie.</p><p class="p7">She hummed. “Wufei like you very much.”</p><p class="p7">He smiled and snickered. “I sure hope so. I like him too.” He leaned back against the bench and then sprang forward at the pain in his back from the hard wood, hissing and reaching to touch it, like it would help.</p><p class="p7">Jing looked surprised at his show of pain. “Are you okay?”</p><p class="p7">Duo grit his teeth. “Yeah, just really bruised on my back. I was being stupid and fell off a fence. Concrete’s not a good pillow.” He tried to laugh it off.</p><p class="p7">She started to stand and grabbed for his hand, Duo let her in his surprise. “What kind of work you do, climbing fences? I have remedy for you, come!”</p><p class="p7">He had to hurriedly gather his papers and tablet while being pulled away from the zen garden park and back into the apartment building.</p><p class="p7"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p7"> </p><p class="p7">Wufei’s motorcycle slid into the parking garage, rumbling echoing off the concrete walls loudly as he found his parking spot. When he found Duo’s black Jeep still where he’d first left it he smiled. He didn’t know why every time he came home he was relieved to see it, relieved to know Duo was still upstairs waiting for him, but he was. He parked beside it and took the elevator, looking at his phone when it vibrated in his pocket. It was Trowa.</p><p class="p8"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>Did Duo tell you about the club?</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p12"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>I forgot to ask. I’ll ask tonight. Day</em>
  </p>
  <p class="p9">
    <em>after tomorrow, yes?</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p10"> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p11">
    <em>Affirmative.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="p8"> </p><p class="p7">‘Affirmative’. Wufei wanted to roll his eyes. He sounded like Heero. At least he knew now that Trowa was nothing like Heero. Or he was beginning to know that. Gag gifts, infuriating pranks, and race cars. At the very least. Incredible. The elevator door opened and he stepped into the hall, putting his phone away and getting his keys out. On the way there he remembered he hadn’t locked the door himself when he left, and Duo had so far yet to lock it when he was alone. He put the keys back in his pocket. Upon reaching his front door he turned the knob slowly to test his theory, and yes it was unlocked, but as he began to push the door open a long moan reached him from within the apartment. Wufei froze. Duo’s voice grumbled inside.</p><p class="p7">“Ohh, shit—not so hard!” He started laughing and then moaned through it again. “Ah, god please.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei’s heart pounded and his face flushed as he stood there and listened, a million thoughts zooming through his brain about the reason, the source. He let the door swing open and stood still.</p><p class="p7">Duo lie on the floor of the living room, shirt thrown beside him, and his fingers gripped into the carpet, jaw tight in a grimace. Jing kneeled at his side, her own hands kneading roughly into his back.</p><p class="p7">“I must massage it in your skin! It hurts anyway, stop acting like baby,” she nagged at him.</p><p class="p7">The flush of blood in Wufei’s face drained away and the muscles in his arms and legs tingled at the relief he felt. He felt like a fool. He sighed hard and shook his head. He entered the apartment and shut the door, the sound making Duo’s eyes open. Duo reached out to him as his rescuer.</p><p class="p7">“‘Fei! Fucking Christ save me!” He wailed and laughed. “Jing’s trying to break my back!”</p><p class="p7">The scent in the apartment overpowered Wufei, strongly thick and herbal. There was a bottle of dark liquid next to Jing’s knees that she was wetting Duo’s purple back with and rubbing in.</p><p class="p7">She clicked her tongue at Duo. “You are weak: I finished already!” She gave his back one last rub down and smacked the skin as she slowly rose up.</p><p class="p7">Wufei didn’t move to save him, instead taking off the jacket and hanging it over the barstool. “Do you know what she’s doing?”</p><p class="p7">Duo lie limp now that the pressure was off his back, groaning. “Using some Daddy Juice on me, that’s all I understood.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei’s eyes closed and rolled up white at the butchering of his language. “It’s <em>die da jiu</em> you uncultured swine. It’s a Chinese liniment. Helps heal injuries.”</p><p class="p7">“You know that for a fact?”</p><p class="p7">Wufei ignored him for Jing when she handed him the corked bottle. She started to chastise him playfully in their native tongue about not getting the potion for his own boyfriend’s health. He took it well and apologized, thanking her for her help and bowing. She bowed back and bid farewell to Duo, telling him to knock on her door if he wanted advice on how to deal with Wufei. Like Wufei was the noisy volatile one in the relationship. Duo waved weakly at her.</p><p class="p7">“Bye, Jing.” The door closed and he let his arm flop down, whining. Taoshu jumped out from her box and sniffed at Duo’s back.</p><p class="p7">Wufei came to kneel beside him. “You’re pitiful.” He rubbed his fingers in the rabbit’s fluffy fur.</p><p class="p7">“Do I have any skin left?”</p><p class="p7">“None.”</p><p class="p7">“I knew it.” He shakily pushed himself to his knees. “You’re back early; I didn’t get to make dinner.”</p><p class="p7">“Don’t worry about it. Let’s order pizza.”</p><p class="p7">Duo hummed happily and wrapped his arms around Wufei’s neck, rubbing his nose into his collarbone. “Mmm that’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei was stunned by the sudden enfoldment and Duo’s face on his chest, and he couldn’t hug around his tender back, he settled with his hands on Duo’s ribs.</p><p class="p7">“Fuck, you smell good,” Duo breathed.</p><p class="p7">Wufei found it took effort to swallow. He rubbed his cheek over Duo’s hair and chuckled dryly. “Are you high?” He meant it to sound light, no accusations, and Duo seemed to receive that message.</p><p class="p7">“I wish I was.”</p><p class="p7">He sighed through his nose. “I know. Come on, sit down and I’ll order.”</p><p class="p7"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p7"> </p><p class="p7">Wufei came back into the apartment with pizza box in one hand and a 2-litre of soda in the other when Duo was clicking through his laptop, and music started playing. He’d decided they would listen to some “sweet tunes” while they ate and Wufei didn’t protest. The music was slow with low bass beats, deep-voiced women sang in almost every song. They sat on the couch, no plates, and chowed down with the music as their background. Duo bobbed his head in time with the beat and demolished the first slice. Wufei didn’t eat quite so fast.</p><p class="p7">“Mm! Hey,” Wufei said, remembering Trowa’s text. “Trowa said you’re going to a club with him, day after tomorrow. He invited me but wanted me to ask you about it.”</p><p class="p7">With a mouth full of hot pizza Duo threw his head back and belly laughed. He took a moment to laugh it out, finishing chewing and he took a drink of his soda. “Because you probably wouldn’t go if he told you what it was!”</p><p class="p7">Wufei was nervous now—they knew it was something he would be reluctant about in the first place apparently. That did not bode well. “What is it? All he said was a ‘club event’.”</p><p class="p7">“It’s a fetish club!” Duo started rolling again, and he laughed harder at Wufei’s astonished expression. “I told you Trowa was fucking weird, dude’s into some shit. It’s like an every-other-month thing—he goes to every one.”</p><p class="p7">“A fetish club.” He said disbelievingly.</p><p class="p7">“Yeah! He and Karen go every time and apparently it’s a fucking wild blast of just crazy fetish shit and just fucking…” he waved his pizza around trying to find the words, “bodies and music and people running around in gimp-suits and getting spanked! Sex-shows.”</p><p class="p7">“And you’re going.”</p><p class="p7">“Well, as you could’ve guessed I was gonna go and get blasted into orbit with a pile of coke and do my damndest to get absolutely fucked on the dance floor. But now I have you, and I have no coke, so I’m gonna get wasted instead.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei’s eyes rolled back in his head again and the onslaught of imagery from everything. “What is Trowa into that makes him go?”</p><p class="p7">“It’s a secret, my man. You gotta be there to find out.” He raised a brow at Wufei with a challenge. “Wanna go with me?”</p><p class="p7">Wufei, despite himself, was intensely curious about finding out what Trowa could possibly like in a fetish, and wondered at himself why he liked the image of a drunk Duo in a hot and heavy club atmosphere. The experience at Dirty had messed with him. There was one issue.</p><p class="p7">“Do I have to wear something…unbecoming?”</p><p class="p7">Duo snorted. “No. You can wear anything you want: there’s no restrictions at events like this. Literally anything goes, short of murder. You can come in anything, from naked to a tuxedo and top-hat.”</p><p class="p7">“I’ll go.” He couldn’t believe himself. He’d feel better with Duo with him, he was sure he’d never go on his own. He took a bite of the pizza he’d forgotten about during his astonishment.</p><p class="p7">“Sweet! I’m stoked. I’ve never been to one of these, but I hear they’re a blast. Just complete, unadulterated fantasy and sex and drugs.”</p><p class="p7">“Do you have fetishes?”</p><p class="p7">Duo chuckled and shrugged. “I don’t think so. Not like- I don’t need to have anything to get off, I just like sex. A little bit of anything I guess,” He eyed Wufei dangerously, smirking. “Do you?”</p><p class="p7">“I don’t think so either. Haven’t really tried that much.”</p><p class="p7">Duo was squinting at him while he ate, very quiet. It unsettled Wufei.</p><p class="p7">“What?”</p><p class="p7">“I’m trying to decide if you’re a top or bottom.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei rolled his eyes. “What do you think? What are you?” It was strange to want to keep that hidden away after talking about going to a fetish club.</p><p class="p7">“Bottom with dudes, both with ladies, obviously.”</p><p class="p7">“Obviously?”</p><p class="p7">“I’m gonna give you an image and you tell me if that feels right.” He paused for effect, pointing at Wufei with his pizza slice. “Me fucking Heero.”</p><p class="p7">“I don’t believe that for a moment.”</p><p class="p7">Duo laughed. “There ya go. I like the give and take with ladies. A lot of them are totally down to fuck their boyfriends. But you…you could either be a strict top, no exceptions, <b>or</b> be that kind of switch-up that looks like a ripped macho king but loves to be a submissive fuck.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei sighed. “So either? You haven’t decided?”</p><p class="p7">“Guess I’m just gonna have to find out.”</p><p class="p7"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p8"> </p><p class="p7">They went to bed late in the night, and Wufei had fallen asleep quickly, but he slept lightly, awaking whenever Duo shifted under the sheets. He listened to the man sigh and move around. He looked up at the ceiling, but it was black in the room.</p><p class="p7">“Can’t sleep?” He asked quietly.</p><p class="p7">“Can’t turn my brain off.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei hummed understandingly.</p><p class="p7">“Are you going to video Heero tomorrow?”</p><p class="p7">Now Wufei really understood: Duo was thinking about the morning’s fiasco. “No. We talk every few weeks, maybe a month. It was bad luck you were there for this one. Did it bother you that badly?”</p><p class="p7">“I think I was more surprised than anything. I haven’t heard from him since we broke up; I didn’t expect to hear his voice in your apartment. Haven’t been able to scream at him about it and just let him fucking have it.” He sighed again. “Like he’d give a shit.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei let him have the silence for a while, but he wanted to seize this opportunity; this was his chance to ask. Duo seemed better at talking about his feelings, his issues, when he thought no one could see him. He probably felt safely alone.</p><p class="p7">“Why did you break up?” He gently prompted.</p><p class="p7">Duo murmured, keeping the calm quiet of the night with them. “He wanted someone to take care of. He wants someone who…needs him. And I didn’t need him.” He scoffed quietly. “That sounded horrible. I mean I didn’t need him to take care of me. I can take care of myself, I don’t need someone to hold my hand. Surprisingly I’m not a delicate flower.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei almost chuckled at that. Duo wasn’t a damsel in distress. He was a stupid boy who liked to play with fire, but could pick himself up when it blew up in his face.</p><p class="p7">“Heero’s not this guy who likes a submissive partner or anything, I mean, Relena is a tough girl. She’s been through some shit. But he wants someone that he can help and guide and…protect. Relena likes to take care of him too, that was obvious during the war. And I…don’t need protection. I need a partner. Someone that, if I <b>do</b> fuck up, has my back. Kinda sounds the same but it feels different. I can’t just kneel to a cause like he does, I gotta do it my way.”</p><p class="p7">Duo had spat that at Heero that morning about kneeling at Relena’s feet. Wufei knew that was the truth that Duo wasn’t subservient like that. He turned onto his side to face him, even though he couldn’t really see him in the dark.</p><p class="p7">“How did it happen?”</p><p class="p7">Duo blew out a long slow breath and moved around under the covers, his voice a little louder like he’d turned onto his side too. “I came home from work one day and all his shit was packed up. He was waiting for me. He said…that he loved me, but he wasn’t in love with me anymore. That the relationship wasn’t doing it for him and he wanted more. He wanted something else. He’d already taken the job as head of security and would be moving out that day. It was…it fucking sucked. Jesus it felt like the worst day of my life. I know he must’ve put a lot of thought into it—you know he doesn’t make a move without planning every possible scenario, but it was still hard to hear.” Duo sucked in a tight breath but his voice was clear. Painful but not tearful. Resigned. “I just wasn’t wanted. I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just me.”</p><p class="p7">Wufei reached along the covers to find Duo, holding his arm. “It’s not you. But it’s not them either. Sometimes relationships don’t work out, or they change and have to move on to something else. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I know this isn’t because of who you are.”</p><p class="p7">Duo scoffed.</p><p class="p7">“I’m serious. My wife and I hated each other. She was arrogant and hot-tempered and she looked down on me for pursuing a deeper education rather than ‘be a man’ as she said, and fight. I was hard-headed and had these lofty ideas about peace and life and I thought she was an aggressive, loveless fool.” Wufei shook his head against the pillow. “At the end as she was dying, I loved her. She was stronger than I could have ever hoped to be, and I was consumed with rage that something as idiotic as war had taken her down and I had only stood by and watched. So I fought for her. I know she’s dead so it’s a different kind of breakup, but if she hadn’t died…we probably would’ve hated each other forever. If I had stayed the same person then, I would have tried my best to divorce her…A bad match is a bad match. Sometimes it takes time and change-“ he took a large breath, “-and heartbreak to find the partnership that exists for you as yourself.”</p><p class="p7">Duo was quiet for a moment, thinking. His hand came to rest against Wufei’s chest as he shifted closer. “I’m tired of trying,” he whispered.</p><p class="p7">Wufei didn’t fear those words, they didn’t send him into a spiral of self-doubt like he imagined they could have. Duo had been deeply hurt by two passionate loves where he probably thought each would be the last. Confidence hammered down, happiness only inhaled through the nose, Wufei thought he understood.</p><p class="p7">“We don’t have to do this,” he told Duo gently. “I don’t mean it as a threat—You make the decision. I’ll accept it no matter what it is.”</p><p class="p7">Duo squeezed the top of Wufei’s shoulder in recognition of the offer. His chuckle came out short and breathy. “I’m too deep to turn back.”</p><p class="p7">The admission stilled the breath in Wufei’s lungs, but his hand moved without thinking to Duo’s neck and pulled him in. Duo came willingly and connected their lips, moving against him with something feeling soft, secretive. Wufei wanted to take all of it, pressing his body into Duo’s, intent on sharing the heat that built in him. The muted sounds of the kiss, Duo’s long inhale, was like striking iron, sending tingling sparks down his thighs. He pushed Duo onto his back against the bed, listening to him pant lightly when Wufei moved to taste his neck, his hands searching under the shirt for the expanse of skin, firm muscle. He dropped to Duo’s chest, kissing over the skin, pulling Duo’s hips into him, driving his tongue against the flesh of his belly. Chest heaving, Wufei hooked his fingers into the band of Duo’s pants and licked at the slopes of his unveiling hips and downward.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Gotta say...I'm losing steam. I have about 3 more chapters written, the end and how to get there in mind but...I'm just tired. I'm at a section that takes more exposition--GOOD exposition/description--than I am capable of and it's draining me. I'm still trying to work on it, if you care, but it might be slow.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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